Cyber Harmony or Total Control?
On May 19, 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of the People’s Republic of China issued an edict which shocked Chinese netizens. The edict dictated that starting from July 1, all computers produced and sold in China must be pre-installed with “Green Dam Youth Escort” software. This edict became one of the year’s most controversial cyber laws.
What is Green Dam Youth Escort?
Green Dam Youth Escort, often shortened to “Green Dam,” is a software that censors and filters web content that is not approved by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership. “Edict Concerning Computers to be Pre-installed with Green Cyber Filtering Software” issued by the MIIT states that the purpose of the software is to “construct a green, healthy, and harmonious cyber environment and to prevent youths and minors from being affected and poisoned by harmful, unhealthy information on the Internet.”
The edict is part of a larger governmental project which started in early 2009 to deter “vulgar cultures” on the Internet. The “unharmonious” content censored by Green Dam include pornographic visuals and texts, violence, and other content that is disapproved by CCP leaderships, such as the religion – or “superstition” in official rhetoric – Falun Gong, homosexuality, and illegal drugs.
Aside from censorship, Green Dam also keeps a record and screen shots of the content browsed by users. It also limits surfing time and access to Web games to prevent Internet addiction.
Disappointing performance
User testimonials of the performance of Green Dam have described fatal flaws in the software. During the installation, a dialog box reads “this product filters inappropriate content on the Internet, but does not guarantee that all inappropriate content is filtered or that all filtered content is inappropriate.” This statement is true to large degree. The pornography-filtering feature filters pictures that contain large areas of skin-colour, with East Asian skin colours as the standard; but it cannot detect nude pictures of deeper skin colours. Also, many non-pornographic pictures with large areas of skin-colour, such as Hello Kitty and Garfield Cat, are filtered.
Fang Xingdong, an IT expert in Beijing, said in an interviewed with the Beijing Review, “although no software can claim to be a hundred percent accurate in filtering, this mistake is very ridiculous.”
Furthermore, the software poses a series of negative effects to the computer’s performance, such as slowing down Internet speed and involuntary Web page shut-downs. It also increases the risks of installations of malicious software, as the Green Dam system can easily be hacked. The software is also unable to work on browsers other than Internet Explorer.
Netizen reactions
A survey conducted by Sina, one of China’s biggest web portals, showed that 83 percent of 26,232 respondents did not want the software on their computers.Another popular web portal, Sohu, showed that 70 percent of participants in a poll believed that the software will not effectively stop minors from browsing inappropriate websites. Some netizens raised the question as to why the software must be installed on all computers if its purpose is to protect only youths and minors. Many felt that the CCP’s true intention behind the Green Dam edict is to monitor every computer for activities that might challenge the existing order.
One netizen on Nan Fang Daily News website said, “the Green Dam is an excuse for the government to intrude upon our privacy and filter politically sensitive information in order to control our lives.” Han Han, an influential writer in China, wrote in his blog, “as we all know, the protection of youths and minors has been our country’s best excuse for cultural control. It is as if our youths and minors will go on the street and rape if they see some nudity pictures, will stab people with knives if they see blood, or will conduct violent protests if they find out the historical truths. So, the best solution is to not let them see anything. Since it is impossible to censor things from a particular crowd, so the government has decided that no one should see anything.”
These suspicions are not without evidence. Technicians from Chinascope, a market research company, had found that the software reports the typing of politically sensitive phrases, such as “Fanlun Gong” or “June Fourth Movement,” to CCP staff.
The Collapsing of the Dam
In response to Green Dam’s immense unpopularity, the MIIT decided that the edict was “not thoughtful enough” in ordering all computers to be installed with Green Dam. The ministry later announced a change of plan: only installations on public computers would be mandatory. Installations on private computers would be left optional. In July 2010, the companies that produced and supported the software were reported to be on the verge of collapse and the 20 million Green Dam users would be left without further technical support.
