China faces conundrum on internet use
Attempts by China’s communist government to dictate and control the voluminous flow of electronic information is proving futile, according to a new survey.
The survey was undertaken by Guo Liang, the deputy director of the Research Centre for Social Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-backed think-tank in Beijing.
His survey, funded by the New York-based Markle Foundation, was conducted in 12 small Chinese cities.
The survey asked over 4000 people aged 17-60 for their views on the internet.
China’s government still insists on having the final say on what its citizens read and view but web filters are proving less than reliable, said Mr Guo.
Graphic representations of Chinese characters were virtually undetectable by web filters, he said.
“You cannot control the internet. That is my basic theory,” said Mr Guo.
“People can receive all sorts of information. The filters cannot scan a graphic.”
Overall, 72 per cent of the web surfers surveyed said the internet had given them more opportunities to express their political views.
And strikingly, sixty-one per cent thought the internet allowed them to criticise government policies.
Only 13 per cent said they backed the control of political content.
China has about 68 million Net users among its 1.3 billion people.
