China's President Xi says internet control key to stability

[Independent voter]

They say 50% of China's 1.3 billion citizens have internet access. What would happen if a free exchange of ideas were allowed not only with each other but a free exchange of ideas with everyone on the planet?

Xi says no good would come of it, it's a threat to the regime.


Bolded the interesting(to me) parts.




https://www.reuters.com/article/us-d...-idUSKBN1HS0GW

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China must strengthen its grip on the internet to ensure broader social and economic goals are met, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday citing comments from President Xi Jinping, underlining a hardening attitude towards online content.

FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping meets World Economic Forum (WEF) Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China April 16, 2018. Naohiko Hatta/Pool via REUTERS
Under Xi’s rule China has increasingly tightened its grip on the internet, concerned about losing influence and control over a younger generation who are driving a diverse and vibrant online culture from livestreaming to blogs.

“Without web security there’s no national security, there’s no economic and social stability, and it’s difficult to ensure the interests of the broader masses,” Xinhua cited Xi as saying.

“We cannot let the internet become a platform for disseminating harmful information and stirring up trouble with rumors,” he added in comments made at a cyber security conference in Beijing, Xinhua said.

Chinese regulators have been driving a sweeping crackdown on media content, which has been gaining force since last year, spreading a chill among content makers and distributors.

China is also looking to take a leading role globally in internet regulation and technology more broadly, which has come into sharp focus amid a trade standoff with the United States and an arms race over technology.

The United States banned sales of parts and software to Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE earlier this week, which the Chinese firm said on Friday threatened its survival. ZTE uses U.S. chips in many of its smartphones.

The ZTE case had “triggered a heated debate” in China about advanced technology, Xinhua said in a separate report on Saturday, adding mastering high-end technologies such as chips was “key” to becoming a strong nation.

Luo Wen, China’s deputy industry minister, said while China had made progress in advance manufacturing in areas like electric vehicles and aviation, it was still facing challenges due to a lack of top talent and global scale, Xinhua said.

“Our advanced manufacturing development faces the risk of being boxed in at the low-end,” Xinhua reported, citing Luo.

Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Ros Russell

[Powerogue]

The main risk is that of many overly oppressive, crappy governments: People that get out of this environment and experience what it's like without the oppression may return and alert their friends and family. Not as efficiently, of course, but we were able to get the word out before such things were invented.

They can respond by gripping tighter and tighter with that iron fist, but that only breeds more and more disapproval of the government.

It's the social control mechanism that they're pushing with the "good citizen credit" that's truly terrifying, as that could potentially accomplish all the control with far less of the societal unrest as the people more or less control each other's deviant behavior. But even that requires people like the system. If the unrest becomes targeted at the system, people will gleefully circumvent it and help others to do so as well. Or perhaps hack it to artificially alter each other's scores. Even that "ace in the hole" idea has the potential to fail.

[NoRest4Wicked]

After Arab Spring, can you blame him?

[PACOX]

This is the guy who made himself for life, right? I mean he isn't technically wrong. Can't organize against the machine if theres no means to organize against it.

[shadowmouse]

They say 50% of China's 1.3 billion citizens have internet access. What would happen if a free exchange of ideas were allowed not only with each other but a free exchange of ideas with everyone on the planet?

I'm of two minds on this. As an ideal, a free exchange of ideas sounds good, but recent events may cast a shadow on that ideal. Our "free" exchanges have become a battleground, where companies and governments may be increasingly acting to channel those discussions towards fixed targets. In the US we are currently looking for a way to deal with these trends as Zuckerberg testifies before Congress. The points this article quotes are in line with such concerns:

“Without web security there’s no national security, there’s no economic and social stability, and it’s difficult to ensure the interests of the broader masses,” Xinhua cited Xi as saying.

“We cannot let the internet become a platform for disseminating harmful information and stirring up trouble with rumors,” he added in comments made at a cyber security conference in Beijing, Xinhua said.

Nobody cares if you shout "fire" in the middle of a forest. If you do the same in a largely empty public space, the damage will probably be limited. If, however, you want to yell "fire" in a crowded theater, you've crossed the line for protected speech. China, with a population that gets reported somewhere between 1.3 to 1.6 billion (there are disputes about the extent of the unregistered population), is the equivalent of a crowded theater. New York is populous, so is London, and Beijing is larger than the two combined. There aren't just a lot of people here, there are a lot of people in close quarters.

I would love for my students to be able to access things like lectures on Youtube more easily ("Teacher, you're old fashioned, we can all get that.") but I'm less keen on groups like Eastern Lightning using the Internet to farm members. The potential for harm is probably much greater here, but consider this fairly current thread as an example of how the free exchange of ideas can go wrong: https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...Mosque-Shooter Eastern Lightning has been estimated to have a membership in the millions despite existing laws. If you have an interest in history, look back at the Taiping Rebellion and consider the similarities. Are these simply nice people being maligned by the government? Perhaps, but the Zhaoyuan McDonald's murder makes me think otherwise. That's just one example of the struggle over the Internet here.

In the long run, I think that these articles are right to question changes, but they also seem to fail to take into account the Chinese themselves. Chinese have relatives abroad, they travel abroad, they also have friends and family that work abroad and may have taken up residency overseas. Their kids go overseas to study, they often have extensive training from foreign teachers here in China, and there are a growing number of foreign tourists, employees, and students here. I think that the access Chinese have to outside influences tends to get underestimated.

[Lahis]

Opressive government afraid of free exchange of information.

Water is also still wet.

More news at 11.

[Torto]

What's funny is the bolded parts in the OP could have been spoken by any of the leftist anti-free speech progressives from the West. "In the interests of diversity and multiculturalism and maintaining stability amongst the masses you can't say this and you can't post that!". Maybe Antifa should spend some time in China, to see what they are fighting for, to see what they want the West to become.

[The Stormbringer]

Dictators gonna dictate... I still can't believe China voted this asshole President for life. They're going to regret it.

[Deleted]

To be honest, seeing how many radical people of all kinds that exists right now I can't argue to much with the idea of restricted internet. As long as it isn't being biased.

[Machismo]

What's funny is the bolded parts in the OP could have been spoken by any of the leftist anti-free speech progressives from the West. "In the interests of diversity and multiculturalism and maintaining stability amongst the masses you can't say this and you can't post that!". Maybe Antifa should spend some time in China, to see what they are fighting for, to see what they want the West to become.

Your desire to practice thought policing and restrict movement is no different than the attempts by liberals to stifle free speech. Man, o you even bother to look in the mirror?

I love when racist nationalist try to complain about others being authoritarian, it's fucking adorable.

- - - Updated - - -

People should not accept the actions of authoritarian regimes, it doesn't matter if they are to the left or right. China does not allow for free speech, and punishes people for believing the wrong things. That is unacceptable.

[Sorshen]

What's funny is the bolded parts in the OP could have been spoken by any of the leftist anti-free speech progressives from the West. "In the interests of diversity and multiculturalism and maintaining stability amongst the masses you can't say this and you can't post that!". Maybe Antifa should spend some time in China, to see what they are fighting for, to see what they want the West to become.

Didn't take long for you to spin it into 'like teh evil libruls'. Could you not?

It may be that the chinese understand that there's so much power in information, even better than the west. So they're not making people disappear anymore, they just make pre-emptive strikes controlling the informational highways. It's better pr and cheaper I guess.
But, as bungee said, the chinese are not that oblivious to the outside world. I think the average young internet user knows how to dodge the 'great firewall' and does it on a regular basis.

[Kapadons]

The Chinese communists and the Democrat left in the US have a lot in common apparently .....

[PosPosPos]

The Chinese communists and the Democrat left in the US have a lot in common apparently .....

That's funny, last I checked the Conservatives were the ones whining that people were mean to them and wanted to put them in prison for criticizing their comic book villainry.

Pretty sure the GOP is trying to emulate dictatorships around the world.

[Coldstream]

unfortunately he is very correct.

The internet has done irreversible damage to our society and culture. Our children are stupid and more reckless, attention spans have dwindled, and it has become a platform for crime, exploitation and scams to thrive on.

Good job China. I'm glad you see reason.

[mizeri]

Dictators gonna dictate... I still can't believe China voted this asshole President for life. They're going to regret it.

lol voted, i dont much voting went on when that happened.

[Blamblam41]

I've been stating it for a decade, China is a social revolution waiting to happen. They are one Mau away from the younger generation pretty much exterminating everyone over 40.

[grexly75]

unfortunately he is very correct.

The internet has done irreversible damage to our society and culture. Our children are stupid and more reckless, attention spans have dwindled, and it has become a platform for crime, exploitation and scams to thrive on.

Good job China. I'm glad you see reason.

Pretty much this^ this is the sad thing about what was once seen as an awesome and useful tool. Has now been turned into one giant cesspool of shit. And many western countries are in the process of trying to pass laws that will do the same thing as what China already has..

[Blur4stuff]

If you honestly hate what China is doing to control the population then sure, you might also hate a small portion of people on the left that are PC crazy. You would also hate Trump because he has, on many occasions, openly expressed admiration for dictators and his desire to jail and punish reporters that say anything negative about him.

[grexly75]

But I thought communism was a good thing?

Which is interesting as many on the left do want that sort of thing to happen..

[Blamblam41]

unfortunately he is very correct.

The internet has done irreversible damage to our society and culture. Our children are stupid and more reckless, attention spans have dwindled, and it has become a platform for crime, exploitation and scams to thrive on.

Good job China. I'm glad you see reason.

Our children are stupid and more reckless, what? Nevermind average intelligence has never been better among children.

And you want to talk about risks? Let's talk about pre-seat belt cars. Or pre-regulation industry.

The internet has only damaged what you see. Everyone else is using it as the learning tool it is.