The Great Firewall Of China

May 2008 China has the most sophisticated censorship and internet surveillance in the world. But despite this autocratic control some guerrilla bloggers are still managing to get their message through. "The Government always wants to try to act as the cat to control people's access to information but I think the mouse is running faster." This is the voice of Isaac Mao, he was one of China's earliest bloggers, and has learnt how to work the system. "The Chinese government's goal is not to control one hundred percent of what people are doing one hundred percent of the time," if they are too authoritarian, they will be faced with civil unrest. As CNN correspondent Rebecca MacKinnon points out, "to remain in power they want to prevent certain uses of the internet that might lead to overthrow." Journalists like Zhang Shihe work the gaps in the censorship to broadcast their message, " I rely on my instinct. Am I telling the truth or lies? Am I trying to help improve the situation? I know if I can control this, I'll be fine." He regularly films and comments on rural working conditions, and has as yet avoided jail. But his story is not typical. With about 30 known journalists and 50 internet users known to be behind bars, the Committee to Protect Journalists has branded China "the world's leading jailer of journalists." Produced by ABC Australia Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: journeymanpictures

Length: 21:52
Rating: 4.6057973
Views: 105832

Tags: China  Internet  Firewall  Government  Blog  Yahoo  Prison  Censorship  Journeyman  Pictures  news  documentary  current affairs  journeyman pictures  

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