Bid to stop net censorship
2005-09-29 20:52
Beijing - A New York-based rights group on Thursday called on China to stop censoring the internet, and urged foreign governments to pressure Beijing to follow international standards on freedom of expression.
"The Chinese government should repeal laws and regulations aimed at complete government control of the internet," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
"Leaders of democracies must press President Hu Jintao at every meeting to adhere to international standards on freedom of expression."
The new rules issued on Sunday by the state council, China's cabinet, require internet operators to re-register their news sites and police their sites for content that can "endanger state security" and "social order".
Critics have said the rules were aimed at controlling an increasingly independent society that was demanding more rights protection.
'Government scared of its citizens'
"China's leaders claim to be modernisers and that they are leading the country towards greater freedom and democracy," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
"Yet they still remain afraid of their own citizens and the healthy diversity of news and views which defines a modern society."
Human Rights Watch said the new regulations made the government and the Chinese Communist Party the only arbiter of what was "healthy and civilised" in online content.
"The Chinese authorities apparently think that keeping more than 100 million Internet users in the dark is better than allowing the peaceful exchange of opinions or expressions of grievances," Adams said.
"This is Big Brother at its worst, and out of step with the direction of the rest of the world in the 21st century."
The Chinese government recognises the internet's potential for spreading education and technical skills but also fears its capacity for carrying content considered subversive.
China's online population has grown rapidly in recent years from just 620 000 in 1997. With more than 100 million users now, it is the world's second largest internet market after the United States.