CHINESE INTERNET: Page Not Found

In China, when the message "Page Not Found" pops up after an online engine or URL entry search, chances are it is not an "Error." Unlike the United States, China's Internet has become increasingly subject to censorship. Many methods such as, self-censorship have been implemented in hopes of limiting the amount of attained forbidden web material by creating regulations that outlaw access to certain online content, and speech against Chinese government. The repercussions for attempting these illegal content searches are punishable by imprisonment, and have led to even greater consequences. The Chinese government is going to new extremes to ensure its Internet users are UNable to access "inapPROPriate" or "politically sensitive" conTENT. Up to this point, Chinese government has used online filters in order to restrict Chinese Internet users, but now it has implemented new technology methods to ensure censorSHIP. Green Dam Youth Escort SOFTware " AUTOmatically downloads the latest updates of a list of [government proclaimed] prohibited sites from an online database, and also collects private user data." It is not the fUNCTION of this software that is controversial, but instead, it's potential required installation on every computer in China. The tentative law to mandate all computers to come with this software pre-installed would not allow Chinese Internet users the option to choose whether or not they were subject to complete government censorship. Because of restrictions on search engines and websites, many Internet users have opted to join social networking websites that allow them to create new identities and voice their opinions without worrying about being judged harshly, or worse, being "identified.” However, government plans to require all internet users to enter their real identification information take away a major attraction of the Internet, especially social networking sites, and chat rooms; anonymity. As we can see, the social implications of China's Internet censorship are numerous, but now let us take a look at how it affects China's business model.

While I studied abroad in Shanghai, China last year, I began to analyze the Chinese government's relationship to Chinese's Internet users; I compared it to a parent - child relationship. The Chinese government represents the parent that guides the child, and acts as a doorkeeper between the child and the outside world. On the other hand, the child is dependent on the parent for knowledge, and as it grows older and is exposed to consumer society, asks the parent to purchase, purchase, purchase! Many projections place China as the forerunner as the world and Asia's largest consumer market. The Chinese consumer market is far from saturation; companies see the potential that lies within this market, and constantly try to figure out how to effectively reach the Chinese consumers. The Internet is probably the one tool that is capable of reaching the large and diverse population of "consumer savvy" Chinese. Now, when I say consumer savvy Chinese, that probably excludes a number of Chinese that do not have internet/computer access and those in rural areas, but even they are increasingly susceptible to the Internet's bombardment. American companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google are only three players in China's Internet infrastructure, and like other companies, they have fallen under scrutiny to conform to Chinese societal standards and appease the Chinese government. In the next blog we will further explore the effects and structural changes that foreign Internet companies endure when entering China’s online world.

Another fellow blogger with a recent update on the Green Dam Youth Escort mandate: http://mashable.com/2009/07/01/china-green-dam-celebration/

Guardian.co.uk explanation of the Green Dam Youth Escort Mandate: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2009/jul/01/china-internet-green-dam-censorship

China predictions: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/china-to-become-worlds-second-largest-consumer-market-by-2015_1002069.html