Chinese Citizens Develop Online Code Bypassing Censorship

While China’s “Great Firewall” of internet censorship is often criticized as being undemocratic and grossly ubiquitous, there is actually an online code being developed by Chinese citizens that not only bypasses regulators, but creates new conceptions of news and community. This code has created a subtle compromise between the Chinese public and its government – between the people’s need for expression and the government’s need for control.

Xiao Qiang, editor of the
China Digital Times

NPR recently unveiled the reality of the code through an interview with Xiao Qiang, the editor of the China Digital Times. Qiang described the phenomenon as the creation of a “public” code, not a “secret” code. For instance, “May 35” is code for June 4, the day of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, yet the code is commonly understood by both the government and the public to mean just that. It is no secret at all. In fact, the coding is so universal that it is rather not a code at all; it is an online language.

Consequently, political criticism is often present on Chinese servers because it passes through surveillance by being indirect. This indirectness is the compromising factor between the Chinese public and government. As long as the commentary is technically ambiguous, and balancing the fine line, the government does not censor it. Allowing some leniency helps the regime stay in control by letting its citizens express grievances in non-violent ways. Above all, China does not want protests. What is targeted the most under the “Great Firewall” is any text indicating a call to action.

This disrupts traditional methods of community building whereby a mass message about a problem is sent out, and then alike individuals gather together in person to solve it. However, it reversely creates a new version of community building by which people meet on the web to discuss their problems. They even discuss those problems through a new language, which they add on to through the endless interactivity that web communication offers.

The creation of the online community also establishes a news hub which is an alternative to the propaganda inflicted news of the government. Citizens can now perceive two different stories, one of which is given validity by the cultivation of multiple accounts online.

Nevertheless, while NPR provides an insider’s view on Chinese internet regulation, other reports such as an article titled “Crackdown on Bloggers Is Mounted by China” describe a far more restrictive situation. While user-generated opinion is growing more powerful, bloggers still have to be careful as government officials can detain offenders for “malicious rumor-mongering online.” So for now, balancing the fine line may not be as common, or easy, as some testimonies might suggest.

Sources:

• "Crackdown on Bloggers Is Mounted by China" - by Chris Buckley
• "How Internet Censorship Actually Works in China" - by Kentaro Toyama
• "In China, Avoiding The 'Great Firewall' Internet Censors" - interview hosted by Jacki Lyden

Related Sources:

• "China Tries Even Harder to Censor the Internet" - by Bruce Einhorn  
• "Cracking the 'Great Firewall' of China's Web censorship" - by Paul Wiseman
• "How Memes Became the Best Weapon Against Chinese Internet Censorship" - by Alexander Abad-Santos
• The Media of Mass Communication - by John Vivian