Hines, Nichole

English

Duke Law Scholarship Repository

Duke Law and Technology Review - iBlawg » Blog Archive » How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of Chinahttp://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070607181855/http://www2.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/iblawg/?p=42[9/27/2016 11:37:36 AM]iBlawg Presented by: Duke Law and TechnologyReviewHome About Contact F.A.Q. StaffNext Article »« Previous ArticleHow Wikipedia Can Overcome theGreat Firewall of Chinaby Nichole HinesBeginning in October of 2005, Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia written byits volunteers, was blocked in mainland China for the third time in three years.Chinese officials originally tolerated Wikipedia “because it seemed to beexactly what the party had in mind when it began promoting Internet use 11years ago—an educational resource that could help China close itstechnological gap with the West, encourage innovation and boost economicgrowth.” Phillip P. Pan, Reference Tool on Web Finds Fans, Censors,WASHINGTON POST, Feb. 20, 2006, A01. However, the one-year blockageis a clear indication that the Chinese government now sees Wikipedia as a sitethat releases too much information, and therefore, as a site that threatens theCommunist Regime. Meanwhile, western internet companies such as MSN,Google, and Yahoo are already conforming to China’s censorship demands.Wikipedia refuses to do the same. This presents the question of whetherWikipedia has any legal foundation to overcome what many Americans wouldview as a First Amendment violation and, if not, is there any way thatWikipedia can circumvent the censorship?According to Wikipedia, Chinese Wikipedians are concerned about thedetrimental effects that a permanent ban would have because:First of all, the block deprives a useful resource from themajority of Chinese speakers in the world. Moreover, sinceMainland Chinese form a significant portion of the ChineseWikipedia community (46% of all users in March 2005), along-term block could severely stunt the growth ofWikipedia similar to the block in June 2004. Finally, as thepresence of contributors from multiple communities and CategorieseCommerceCyberCrimeInternationalMedia & CommunicationsPatents & TechnologyHealth & BiotechnologyCopyrights & TrademarksRecent PostsThe Federal Circuit andAdministrative LawPrinciplesBlocking Former SexOffenders from OnlineSocial Networks: Is thisa Due Process Violation?Viacom v. Google: WhoseTube Is It Anyway?Blocking Former SexOffenders from OnlineSocial Networks: Is thisa Violation of FreeSpeech?Upcoming Events at DukeLawSubscribeRSS 2.0 BlogrollStanford Center forInternet and SocietyBlogsLibrary of Congress Web Archives CollectionThis is an archived Web site from the Library of Congresshttp://www2.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/iblawg/?p=42Archived: 06/07/2007 at 22:18:55Note: External links, streamingaudio/video, forms and searchboxes may not function withinthis web site archive First (06/07/2007)     Previous  #1 of 9  Next     Last (11/01/2007) Ask a Librarian« Back to previous pageDuke Law and Technology Review - iBlawg » Blog Archive » How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of Chinahttp://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070607181855/http://www2.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/iblawg/?p=42[9/27/2016 11:37:36 AM]viewpoints has helped in ensuring neutrality in somecontroversial topics (e.g. Taiwanese independence), thesudden removal of one community could exacerbatesystemic bias on the Chinese Wikipedia.Blocking of Wikipedia in Mainland China, WIKIPEDIA (archived Nov. 1, 2006).While these fears may be valid, they are not fears unique to Wikipedia. In fact,China’s decision to block Wikipedia is wholly consistent with the country’scensorship policies. According to a study conducted by the Berkman Centerfor Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, sites that tend to be censoredinclude: sites about democracy/freedom and human rights generally andspecifically in China; health in China, such as hunger; and news websites suchas BBC News, which was consistently unreachable. Such topics can be foundon Wikipedia, making it “another threat to the party’s control of information . . .a venue for people with shared interests—or grievances—to meet, exchangeideas and plan activities without the party’s knowledge or approval.” Phillip P.Pan, Reference Tool on Web Finds Fans, Censors, WASHINGTON POST,Feb. 20, 2006, A01. Therefore, while Chinese officials encourage the uses ofthe internet for building technology and for economic competitiveness, thegovernment would also like to restrict its use so as to prevent the free flow ofinformation that could threaten the Communist Party’s power. See BruceEinhorn, The Great Firewall of China, BUSINESSWEEK, Sept. 23, 2002.To prevent the widespread flow of information, China installed what iscommonly known as the Great Firewall of China. It is a government-controlled,giant filter that restricts what Chinese citizens can access on the internet.Additionally, more than 30,000 people are employed to search websites,blogs, and chat rooms for offensive content, whereas in the U.S. the CIAemploys an estimated 16,000 people. Jonathan Zittrain & Benjamin Edelman,Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China, BERKMAN CENTER FORINTERNET & SOCIETY, Mar. 20, 2003. As a result, China is able to activelyupdate which sites to block and which sites to unblock. Another factor thatcontributes to the success of the censorship is that China gets companies likeYahoo and Google to voluntarily restrict their own websites. See Paul Fiesta,Software Rams Great Firewall of China, CNET NEWS.COM, Apr. 16, 2003.However, Wikipedia refuses to join the list of websites that self-censor.Instead, the president of Wikipedia has stated, “Our position is that the block isin error, even given China’s normal policies. Wikipedia is not propaganda, it isbasic information.” Sumner Lemon, Wikipedia Founder Expects Block to beLifted in China, INFOWORLD, Feb. 22, 2006. While his point may be valid, itmay also be irrelevant.As unfair as the block may seem to Wikipedia, the fact remains that theChinese government has adopted regulations which gives the Chinesegovernment authority to censor the Chinese internet. See Jack Linchuan Qiu,Virtual Censorship in China: Keeping the Gate between the Cyberspaces, 4INT’L J. COMM. L. & POL’Y 1, 10 (2000) (discussing China’s regulationsrelated to internet censorship). Therefore, without a legal mechanism ofovercoming Chinese law, Wikipedia may prefer to just join the host of groupscreating software that circumvents the firewall (although, softwarecircumventing a government censorship is likely illegal). The other option is toBerkeley IntellectualProperty WeblogPhositaPatently OPatry Copyright BlogEric Goldman's Technology& Law BlogNetlawblogTech Law AdvisorTTA BlogPromote the ProgressTech DirtLawrence Lessig's BlogThe Trademark BlogBerkman Center forInternet and SocietyBlogWilson Sonsini's SiliconMedia Law BlogIP News BlogSlashdotDuke Law and Technology Review - iBlawg » Blog Archive » How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of Chinahttp://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070607181855/http://www2.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/iblawg/?p=42[9/27/2016 11:37:36 AM]influence the political process and motivate Chinese citizens to criticize theirgovernment’s censorship policies and demand changes. There is alreadyevidence that such a strategy works.After nearly a year of censorship and nearly a year of consistent complaints tothe Chinese government, there are reports from China that Wikipedia inEnglish is unblocked and that spots of Wikipedia in Chinese are alsoaccessible. China Eases Restrictions on Wikipedia, YAHOO! NEWS, Oct. 19,2006. It is believed that the unblocking of the English-language site was aneffort to appease the critics. In response, Reporters Without Borders hasstated, “We congratulate those in charge of Wikipedia, especially (founder)Jimmy Wales, who could have chosen to censor their own site to get officialblessing . . . . Instead they stuck to their principles and spurned self-censorship. Their determination has paid off inasmuch as Beijing has partiallyreversed its decision. It is an example that other Internet giants could follow.”Government Unblocks Access to Wikipedia’s English-language Version,Reporters Without Borders, Oct. 12, 2006. The event is certainly an indicationthat if Wikipedia is really going to penetrate the Chinese internet, then thewebsite’s best hope is not based on any legal foundation or from the ability tophysically circumvent the censorship, but rather from motivating the people inChina to continue utilizing the political process.Nichole Hines is a J.D. Candidate at Duke University School of LawPosted in International, Media & Communications :: 11/02/06 ::4 Responses to “How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall ofChina”You can follow the responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0  feed. You can leave aresponse, or trackback from your own site.Professays :: 11/06/06 at 4:33 amI suppose the Chinese authorities overated the threat posed bywestern informational resources to the Communist Regime. Theyrealised that a total censorship only damages their image and makethem to look weak in the eyes of foreigners. So it is not WikipediaOvercomes the Great Firewall of China, it is the Chinese authoritiesthat overcome their weaknesses.Ryan McLeod :: 11/18/06 at 8:55 pmIt seems that this saga continues.PB :: 12/16/06 at 3:03 amI’m able to get past the firewall, I just can’t get good speeds!Duke Law and Technology Review - iBlawg » Blog Archive » How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of Chinahttp://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070607181855/http://www2.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/iblawg/?p=42[9/27/2016 11:37:36 AM]What’s the deal with this filtering it’s totally frustrating. I’ve triedeverything, adding two providers even. They have come out andchecked my equipment twice and inform me it’s my router. That’snot it, it works fine at 100Mb. I called my VPN service:http://strongvpn.com and with or without their connection it’s slow.At least connected I’ve bypassed the firewall.I’m curious to know what speeds others are getting?I’m in Shenzhen on China Telecom.Olga :: 3/15/07 at 4:58 amgood blogAdd a Comment Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) WebsiteXHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b><blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>Opinions expressed by guest bloggers are not necessarily those of Duke University or the Duke Law &Technology Review.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. iBlawg is proudly powered by WordPress 2.017 queries. 0.964 seconds.

How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of China

bepress Legal Repository

https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&amp;context=iblawgs

How Wikipedia Can Overcome the Great Firewall of China

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Duke Law Scholarship Repository

bepress Legal Repository