Category Archives: Internet Freedom

Chinese blogger-activist ‘Super Vulgar Butcher’ to be indicted; lawyer not given access – report

wu-gan2The case of a Chinese blogger and activist known as “Super Vulgar Butcher” has been transferred to a court for indictment. Wu Gan, known for his creative protests on sensitive topics, was detained in May 2015 for joining a demonstration staged by lawyers seeking to reopen an old case. Following his detention, state media launched a high-profile attack to discredit him. Continue reading

Rights Website Founder Formally Arrested For Subversion in China’s Hubei

liu-feiyue

Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website founder Liu Feiyue is shown in an undated photo. Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have formally arrested Liu Feiyue, the founder of a rights website, on subversion charges, fellow activists and relatives told RFA on Wednesday. Continue reading

China Bans User-Made, ‘Unlicensed’ Video, Audio From Social Media

sapprft

China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television holds political study meeting, Nov. 21, 2016. Public Domain.

China’s powerful media regulator has banned social media platforms like WeChat, and the Twitter-like Weibo services run by Sina and Tencent, from disseminating user-generated audio and video, in a move that appears to be aimed at stifling citizen reporting in a country where all news is controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Continue reading

Three Human Rights Defenders Held in Unknown Locations, ‘at Risk of Torture’

detained-chinese-rights-lawyer-xie-yang

Detained Chinese rights lawyer Xie Yang, in undated photo. Photo courtesy of an RFA listener.

Concerns are mounting over the continued detention of three prominent Chinese rights defenders all detained or “disappeared” last month, rights group said. Continue reading

Facebook ‘made China censorship tool’

facebook-chief-mark-zuckerberg

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg recently spent time with China’s leader Xi Jinping, as well as taking time to learn Mandarin. AP

Facebook worked on special software so it could potentially accommodate censorship demands in China, according to a report in the New York Times.

Continue reading

Chinese Activists Welcome Press Freedom Award to Bloggers, Rights Website

Chinese blogger Lu Yuyu and his girlfriend Li Tingyu

Chinese blogger Lu Yuyu (R) and his girlfriend, Li Tingyu, in undated photo. Not the News.

Chinese rights activists and journalists have welcomed a Press Freedom award handed to two detained bloggers and the Sichuan-based Tianwang rights website, amid fears that two of the recipients may be being mistreated in detention. Continue reading

China’s Cybersecurity Law Could be Used to Target Peaceful Activists

xi-jinping-gives-a-speech-at-the-internet-conference-in-wuzhen

Xi Jinping gives a speech at the Internet conference in Wuzhen, China, Dec. 16, 2015. AFP

China’s draconian new cybersecurity law, passed by the country’s rubber-stamp parliament this week, has sparked concerns that it will be used to further stifle individual freedoms after a crackdown on dissent that has lasted since President Xi Jinping took power. Continue reading

China Approves Law to Tighten Control on Internet Use

a-woman-uses-her-smartphone-near-a-booth-promoting-cloud-services-during-the-global-mobile-internet-conference-in-beijing

A woman uses her smartphone near a booth promoting cloud services during the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, China.

China’s legislature approved a cybersecurity law on Monday that human rights activists warn will tighten political controls and foreign companies say might hamper access to Chinese technology markets. Continue reading