Global Media News

Chinese Social Media fights for freedom of the Press

Social Media writers though they had the final say on whether an article was published.  Boy!! were they wrong.  There is active censorship on social media sites including deletion of what is to be considered outspoken commentators. 

In a recent article of TeaLeafNation  Ren Zhiqiang an outspoken businessmen in china with 13 million followers tweeted " Freedom of press and freedom of speech are rights given to the society and the people by the constitution; they are also symbols of human rights and freedom.  Yet they have been pipe dreams without the rule of law, being seriously distorted and restricted.  If truth  is not allowed to be spoken, would truth disappear?"

This change occured after a article in Southern Weekend  was changed.  It appeared to be "watered down"   The message was to call on  China's constitution  enabling citizens to "speak out about and critize goverment power.    This triggered a revolt .  It was reported in the Economists that petitions signed by dozens of journalists and staff at the newspaper .  Reports have emerged of a compromise the staff would return and protests would stop in exhange for a promise by censors not to demand changes to stories.  " The press is normally controlled by self censorship and official directives issued to the media. "   But papers are still being censored.    Will the press never have freedom of speech in China?  It appears not.

CNN reported that "this is a direct attack and suppression of press freedom and the people's right to know the truth." Goverment censorship must stop.  But can that truly ever happen when most media are owned by the state.

This is clearly another example of a ban on freedom of speech by the Chinese Goverment.   Their actions prove that they are trying to control what people are able to hear and see in the media. 

China Blocks Radio Broadcasts from the BBC News?

On Monday February twenty fifth 2013 the China blocked the shortwave broadcast in english  that was coming from BBC News. This not the first time China has tried to limit the information that was coming into the country from the outside world.  

BBC News quoted their director of global news Peter Horrocks

"The BBC strongly condemns this action which is designed to disrupt audience's free access to news and information."

BBC News are on of the leaders in world information. China is doing an injustice to their people by with holding information form their people. 

According to ABC News:

"The jamming of broadcasts in China is being timed to cause maximum disruption." "In the past jamming frequencies was also a tactic used by communist nations to block BBC broadcasts during the Cold War."

For China to start using old tactics to keep outside information from reaching the citizens really shows the extant that they are will to go control the media within the country. The out sourced information is only to benefit the people of China not put down the Chinese government.  

China vs. Japan: A War of Words

The Chinese media and the Japanese media are having an all out fight of words. The cause of the fighting is the Japanese media's claim that "Chinese frigate reportedly put a radar lock on a Japanese navy ship. While Chinese media claims that this is not true and that the Chinese Defense Ministry said that "Japan deliberately creating a tense atmosphere and misleading international opinion,” the question is who is telling the truth and who has the most to gain by lying. 

For some reason or another it is hard to believe that Japan would deliberately cause tension with China.                             Well in a "An editorial in Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po says Japan has "other motives in being the guilty party accusing the victim" over this issue. "When visiting the US at the end of February, Abe [Japan Prime Minister] hopes that US President Obama will have a 'positive' stance on softening restrictions on Japan's right to collective self-defence... To win more bargaining chips, Japan chose this moment to suddenly create the tense atmosphere of an imminent Sino-Japanese military conflict to seek concessions from the US on easing restrictions on its right of collective self-defence, the editorial in the Hong Kong-based newspaper adds." 

So is this the reason why Japan would want to create tension? In the hope that U.S. would lose thier control over Japan's military or in order for the U.S. to aviod a war with China? Japanese media has counterattacked this outrageous claim.

Stating,  "Crossing the line of international common sense of armed forces is extremely dangerous provocation... Now, not only is China engaging in coercive action towards neighbouring countries in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, besides Asia, China has become a common concern of the international community. Japan should strengthen co-operation with the US and South East Asian countries, while encouraging China to rectify its problem behaviour." Reported by "An editorial in Tokyo's Yomiuri Shimbun"   

Japanese media claim China to be the aggressor and that they have been causing trouble for years. It is true that China doesn't have a great track record of not being aggressive and of course the internal human right violations that the Chinese government have committed on their own people is whole other can of worms for China. But for once China might be telling the truth, who gains the  most from lying is Japan. If U.S. looses control over Japan's military, Japan would once again be seen as a country that can stand on it's own two feet and that can be seen as a threat if any country tries to attack them. If Japan and China ever went to war, Japan could at least defend themselves if the U.S. decided to back out of the war.    

China's Media Angry and Writing About It !!!!

Many newspapers in China are currently criticizing  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for seeking US support over the territorial row.

In an article dated February 22,2013 in BBC  Mr.Abe said Beijing  had  a "deeply ingrained need to challenge Japan and other neighbors over territory to strengthen domestic support." The media continued to express anger at both Mr. Abe and the United States for comments. They are apparently angry at US for accusing Beijing of "industrial cyber-espionage." 

Similar reports in an interview with Mr. Abe in an article in the Washington Post  reported how the Chinese Government spokesman expressed shock at Mr. Abe  comments . The Editorial Board of the Washington Post also stated that they  found the "shock" to be unfounded. 

 People's  Daily  as well as Global Times  ,reported that the Prime Minister of  Japan's comment is based on an intended alliance .   "He probably wants the US-Japan  alliance to serve the interests of Japan by helping Japan to become a normal country and give backing to Japan on the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands issue to suppress China." the editorial stated.

Are these comments meant to cause problems?  It would appear that there is a contradiction in reports.   According to Chinese newspapers, the Chinese media is reporting an alliance between Japan and US.  Accusing  both countries of  trying  to "stir the  pot" so to speak .  They are insinuating that the US  is taking sides in territorial disputes between Japan and China.  But, according to the Washington Post,  Mr. Abe's comments stated no such threat or allegation. 

Is it really a misinterpretation or is this the Chinese goverment at work reporting only what they think the people should think or hear?

 This is a video clip of the interview.  You can draw your own conclusion.

 

 

Will Taiwanese Media Lose Its Freedom?

Although many would assume due to its location and size, that Taiwan media is small and tightly controlled, this is not the case. According to an article in BBC News, the government had control of the media up until the 1980's. Journalist Cindy Sui says that today, Taiwan has

"one of the freest and competitive media markets in the world." 

Regardless of the fact that Taiwan is a very small country, it runs has over 12 newspapers and 80% of Taiwanese have [uncensored] cable TV. Not only that, but Taiwan's internet is cheap and fast with over 13.8 million users in 2005 with a population of only 22.9 million. That is more 1/2 of the population!

Unfortunately, with the pending decision on whether the

"Hong-Kong based Next Media will sell it's newspaper, magazine, and television businesses to two local consortia, some of whose members have strong business interests in China, has stoked fears that the editorial independence enjoyed by the various media may be under threat."

Will Taiwanese Media lose its newfound freedom? An article in UNPO expresses that the fear of the Taiwanese stems from the fact that selling these media companies to China will facilitate censorship of media. 

Similar to the way Fox News in the U.S. has strong political leanings and biases, the media in Taiwan does as well. "

Despite the freedom it enjoys, much of the media is owned by groups or individuals with strong political leanings. Sui reports,

"Despite the freedom it enjoys, much of the media is owned by groups or individuals with strong political leanings. It is not uncommon to see rival papers or TV talk shows have a strong bias toward either the ruling or opposition party."

The UK edition of Reuters has reported that,

"In an about-turn on Friday, the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) rejected the anti-monopoly media law proposed by Taiwan's major opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a move that is expected to swell numbers at a rally planned for Sunday against China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou."

The anti-monopoly media bill has already been causing protests in Taiwan. 

(SOURCE: BBC News - Taipei, Next Media's Taiwan sale raises fears about Media Freedom, Cindy Sui, November 29th, 2012)

The fear for many Taiwanese citizens is that if/when these businesses are sold to China, these groups will lose their freedom of expression. Censorship of the media is not something that is unknown to the Taiwanese as they had experienced it up unitl the 1980's, so it is not surprising that any interference into their media today causes concern. 

The Great Firewall Of China: Too Much Control?

The internet in China is very different then it is in the United States. China's government censors their internet access heavily. According the the New York Times, "Internet censorship in China is among the most stringent in the world." The Chinese government has went to great lengths to make sure that anti-government posts on the internet are not seen by anyone and are taken down immediately. The Chinese government is very into not being disrespected.

However, this intensity of censorship is not limited to just the internet, they also monitor all electronic interactions. "[..][T]he Chinese government tightened its grip on electronic communications, and appeared to be more determined than ever to police cellphone calls, electronic messages, e-mail and access to the Internet in order to smother any hint of anti government sentiment." The Chinese citizens are monitored very closely where as in the United States we are free to think for ourselves and speak our minds. China is a country that has always had major control coming from the governments end, so censorship on the electronic end wasn't unexpected.

Google Governing Free Speech!

    Have you ever thought of google as a quasi state, because that is what is has become.  In 2010 the New York Times wrote an article called “Google Searches for a Foreign Policy”. This concept of google having a foreign policy is still relevant today.  The most recent example would be the current hype around the Muslim “hate” video. The article written over two years ago discusses the idea that companies like google need to have a foreign policy for the US government has yet to come up with a solid foreign policy in the digital world. This is still true today.  The article brings up a very good point,

“...the fact that the World Wide Web is no longer just a force for freedom and diversity but also a tool for repression. Governments use it to spy on dissidents, human rights activists, and other troublesome elements.This change happened so fast that it left the foreign policy establishment gasping to catch up”

It seems that companies like Google should be sitting at the tale with government leaders writing foreign policies and deciding what information should be free and to whom.  Does everyone realise that a corporate company, where there are no elected officials and no representation by the people has the control over our freedoms!

Global Media News #11: Thursday, April 26, 2012

 

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Scandal in the Chinese Communist Party

As of late Bo Xilai has come under alot of scrutiny. Bo Xilai is a former Chinese politician who held many top seats in the Chinese government but was removed from his position amongst heavy allegations. The allegations all started when Bo Xilai's wife was accused of murdering English businessman Neil Haywood in November 2011. The problem arose when Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun went to the US consulate with documents about their crime and other scandalous info and threatened to turn them in. Wang was then detained and sent to local authorities by Xilai's police force where he was interrogated and investigated.

This led to public outcry and eventually Bo Xilai was stripped from his position and now faces serious out-lashes from the government and public. The Chinese Communist Party has now begun a propaganda campaign to dehumanize him signifying the impact of this case for not only Xilai but the whole Chinese government itself. The situation is truly an ironic one as Xilai used to manipulate the media himself for personal gains now gets a taste of how dangerous the media in a controlled state can be. The country has asked for many of the news and media agencies in the country to show support for the state and to attack Xilai in an attempt to "unify" the country but this has been a difficult task as the country is divided on the issue. Many people in the country such as the pro-communist supporters are in favor of Xilai and have supported him extensively while many liberal or progressive figures in the country are opposed to Xilai and viewed him as a criminal. David Bandurski an editor for the Chinese Media Project in Hong Kong described the situation,

“We haven’t seen this kind of direct meddling with the media across the board in a long, long time...You can really sense the anxiety and the uneasiness.  They’re pushing so intently this message of unity and solidarity, and you know all is not well.”

The case is having an enormous impact on media in China and even some abroad.  According to BBC news a Chinese based website located in North Carolina has been hacked and shut down due to their extensive coverage on the story. The manager of the site has stated that Chinese security forces has shut down the website in an attempt to stop the coverage of the news spreading internationally. This alone signifies how interesting the case really is as China doesn't want any bad press overseas that can potentially be harmful for their government. 

Media in China is an extremely sensitive and private issue due to media in the country being state run and monitored. Certain media networks that are popular internationally, such as Google and Facebook, are banned in China due to fears of their "western" influence. However, many in the country turn a blind eye to the censorship due to the strong economic growth the country has been achieving over the past decade which has helped modernize the country and reduce poverty.

Here's the Wall Street Journal with some interesting coverage on the case

 

Anonymously Hacked

       

Since 2006, a hacker group going by the name of Anonymous, has been fighting in the name of free access to information and free speech on the internet. The group, who consists of people spread across the globe, came into prominence by openly supporting the release of classified documents through Wikileaks.  It wasn't until they hacked the Sony Play Station system that they became noticed.

The group, according to Reuters, has attacked several government and financial websites from all over the world such as the United States, China and the U.K.

In recent news, China is currently trying to fix many governmental websites that Anonymous claimed to have attacked.  Chinese government officials said that while some sites were unable to be accessed, others were never even touched.  Previously to the hacking, on the group's twitter account, AnonymousChina, they publicized the forthcoming attack in a post saying,"first we want to alert the Chinese government that we aren't afraid, and we are going to show the truth and fight for justice".

After the hacking in China, the WashingtonPost reports that, Anoymous left a message on one of the Chinese business websites, cdcbd.gov.cn, stating their feelings toward China's internet restrictions:

“Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall,” the English-language message read. “What you are doing today to your Great People, tomorrow will be inflicted to you. With no mercy.”

 While there havent been any successful attempts by countries affected by Anonymous to bring them down, Syria has managed to make a step in the right direction.  After the hacking of the Syrian's defense minsitry's webpage, they struck back.  According to the online site Geekosystem, the "Syrian Electronic Army", a hacking force,  hacked Anonymous's website, AnonPlus, defacing the homepage with this message:

"In response to your hacking to the website of the Syrian Ministry of Defence, the Syrian people have decided to purify the internet of your pathetic website.  Your website has been hacked..."

 Although Anonymous is fighting for a logical and well-known cause, how they are going about it should definately be called into question.  I do not believe they are as dangerous as the media portrys them to be, but if they don't find the changes they are seeking, it is possible they could take their cause to another level.