{"id":467,"date":"2014-05-18T18:26:30","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T18:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=467"},"modified":"2014-05-19T06:47:05","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T06:47:05","slug":"digital-activism-blocked-on-weibo-encouraged-at-sipa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/digital-activism-blocked-on-weibo-encouraged-at-sipa","title":{"rendered":"Digital Activism: Blocked on Weibo, Encouraged at SIPA"},"content":{"rendered":"

While code language emerges online as a response to government-blocked words, censorship regulators are increasingly finding ways to decode that language. Future SIPA courses hope to explore digital media surveillance in today’s world<\/span><\/p>\n

By Alyssa Mesich<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHairy bacon\u201d was easy for Jason Ng to decode. It\u2019s a pseudonym for Mao Tse- Tung\u2019s embalmed body that quickly spread across the Chinese Internet. But like other popular phrases spoken in online code, it failed to outsmart Chinese censorship regulators. Today, the phrase is blocked on Sina Weibo, China\u2019s hybrid version of Twitter and Facebook, and host to approximately 230 million users.<\/p>\n

Jason Ng, a research fellow at the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab and author of the popular blog-turned-into-book, \u201cBlocked on Weibo: What Gets Suppressed on China\u2019s Version of Twitter (and Why),\u201d visited SIPA this past February for a brown-bag talk. There, Ng explained his work developing a computer script that discovers which words are blocked on Wiebo.<\/p>\n

In his research, Ng tested over 700,000 words, written in traditional and simplified Chinese characters on Wikipedia and found that over 500 of these words were blocked on Wiebo. Wiebo sometimes blocks sensitive words voluntarily or because of government mandates, either making blocked words unsearchable or vanishing any posts that mention the word. Some of the blocked words one might expect\u2014anything to do with freedom of speech, the Dalai Lama, names of politicians, sex, and controversial current events.<\/p>\n

#Japan, for example, is occasionally blocked on Weibo. When the Chinese government wants to incite anti-Japan sentiments, it will unblock the word, and if comments become too unwieldy, the government may block it again. In other words, China\u2019s day-to-day political relationship with Japan determines whether and when the hashtag will be allowed.<\/p>\n

Internet regulation is rarely straightforward, especially in China. China uses targeted censorship, blocking certain words, like #Japan for various lengths of time, instead of forcing an entire Internet shut down.<\/p>\n

Code language, like \u201chairy bacon,\u201d emerged online as a reaction to this type of censorship. But coded key words are solved by government censorship technologies almost as quickly as they are created, making it ever more difficult for people to openly share their views.<\/p>\n

It is, however, possible to track online censorship, as Ng has done, by creating a computer script that identifies blocked words.<\/p>\n

Tracking how governments use surveillance on their citizens, on the other hand, is more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurveillance is how people can really control information,\u201d Ng said. \u201cIt\u2019s how you can really scare people and stop discussions from taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murky government-approved surveillance practices are concerning given the fact that countries like China and the U.S. have been found to increasingly deploy surveillance over censorship.<\/p>\n

Ng believes the world is likely to see continued surveillance and less likely to see an Internet shutdown, like in Egypt in 2011, because the implications of an Internet shutdown often outweigh the benefits.<\/p>\n

Source: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

Clearly, internet policy is changing rapidly with no apparent worldwide standards. As students of international public policy, internet regulation will inevitably be a major issue that will affect much of our work. Thus far, it appears SIPA is making efforts to prepare students for these issues.<\/p>\n

In a preliminary SIPA course next fall sponsored through SIPA\u2019s International Media, Advocacy, and Communication (IMAC) specialization, censorship and surveillance will be key topics that Ng will cover in the proposed course, \u201cDigital Activism: Case Studies and Tools for Researchers, Journalists and Practitioners.\u201d Ng\u2019s course will not only cover case studies of internet censorship in China and the Arab Spring, but it will also give students practical tools to test solutions to digital security problems.<\/p>\n

Students can also look forward to several other courses in the fall that focus on global governance, surveillance, the role private companies play with regards to security issues and tools to engage with today\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n

Anya Schiffrin, Director of IMAC, says that though it\u2019s difficult to forsee how internet policy and internet regulation will evolve in the future, if it follows its current trend, internet freedom will likely remain a controversial topic. Schiffrin believes it is SIPA\u2019s job as a policy school to understand and analyze its implications.<\/p>\n

Although a course at SIPA can\u2019t end internet repression on its own, it can help students better understand the complex digital security issues we face today and the ways policymakers ought to be reacting to them as they evolve in the future.<\/p>\n

Alyssa Mesich is a second-year Master of Public Administration-Development Practice student.<\/p>\n

From The Morningside Post<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.themorningsidepost.com\/2014\/05\/06\/digital-activism-blocked-on-weibo-encouraged-at-sipa\/?utm_content=bufferf7b52&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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