Surprise: Widely Owned Cell Phones Are Most Likely To Be Stolen

China: Blame The Easiest Party, Not Those Actually Guilty

from the one-way-to-do-things dept

Fri, Aug 4th 2006 4:15pm — Mike Masnick

One of the common themes we've discussed around here a lot lately is why any website is not liable for the content posted by their users. It would, effectively, grind the internet to a halt. After all, you would have to monitor everything that every one put on the site -- which makes the participatory nature quite limited. However, the reason many people like to go after these sites is because it's "easier." It's an easy target, even if they're not the actual party responsible. Luckily, the US has been pretty good about making sure that the platform is protected. It appears China has gone in a different direction, with a blog hosting firm being found liable for some content posted on one of their blogs about a professor. It doesn't even sound like the content is actually libelous -- as it was simply criticizing him, not necessarily lying about him. However, as the professor notes, in China it appears that "personal dignity outweighs freedom of speech." Obviously, China can set up their legal system however it wants, but it still seems somehow wrong to blame a tool for the content that someone else put on it.

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MrHoeCakes, 4 Aug 2006 @ 4:34pm

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure someone will) but I thought China had begun moving in the direction of increasing freedoms and various civil rights? Was that all just politics?

As to the matter of nailing the blog hosting company instead of the actual person who made the post, well, that is obviously wrong. But then this is the same country that blocks certain searches, right?
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- Eric, 4 Aug 2006 @ 7:01pm
  
  Re:
  Not when it comes to the internet!
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Dan, 4 Aug 2006 @ 9:32pm

sounds pretty much like what they do here
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- Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2006 @ 8:24am
  
  Re:
  Care to back that up with an example?
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scottbp, 6 Aug 2006 @ 4:58pm

US law is actually unusual in this. Most legal systems actually seem to blame the publisher (as in the website) rather than a commenter or contributor.

Here in Australia we are always having to be careful to avoid opening ourselves up to liability.

There are times when I would love to have some of your American laws

The only difference though is that here we worry about being sued, in China, it is the government and they are not shy about, erm... persuing their own agenda
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NoMorePoints.com, 6 Aug 2006 @ 7:00pm

Communisim! lol

All they need is a Press Pass.....call it journalism!

NoMorePoints.com
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