Russia And China Both Want To 'Protect Children'; Both Want To Do It By Increasing Censorship

from the what-about-protecting-rights? dept

Fri, Jul 13th 2012 3:51pm — Glyn Moody

As expected, Russia has passed a law that will allow Web sites to be blacklisted, ostensibly to "protect children". According to this AFP report, the very vague "harmful information" category has been narrowed somewhat, but future threats remain:

Russian newspapers said Wednesday the final version has specified a previously broad term of "harmful information", saying only child pornography, suicide how-to instructions and drugs propaganda can lead to website closure without a trial.

However, an expert on Russia's security services, Andrei Soldatov, said the bill would lead to creation of a mechanism for blocking foreign sites for the first time by forcing Internet providers to install special equipment.

As the UK experience shows, once the technology is in place to block child pornography, say, the calls to deploy it for things like alleged copyright infringement become more insistent.

China, of course, already exercises pretty tight control over all forms of media, but it seems it wants to lock down online activity even more:

China's broadcasting and Internet regulators have told Internet video providers that they must prescreen all programs before making them available, tightening state censorship of increasingly popular online drama series and mini-movies.

Prescreening all uploaded videos might seem a tall order, but it's already going on with some services: A woman working in the public relations office for Youku, China's most popular online video provider, said Wednesday the new decree had little impact on the company because Youku already has hundreds of prescreeners who examine all content uploaded to the site.
You can probably guess what justification China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) is using for this move: SARFT said this week in a statement on its website that the rule is in response to the rapid growth in online video programs, some of which it said contain vulgar content, excessive violence or pornography. It said the rule would protect younger people and promote high-quality online programs.
It's so nice to know that governments everywhere are united by this desire to protect children; pity they seem equally united in not caring about the erosion of people's rights through the ever-deepening censorship they apply as a result.

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Filed Under: blacklist, censorship, china, russia, sarft

19 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:03pm

I'm going to go out and murder children, for the children
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Zakida Paul (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:11pm

The real scandal in all of this?
Is that these people who pretend to represent the people of their countries are using children to further their agenda. All I can say is please do not be brainwashed by their rhetoric because they do not give a damn about the children. Not as much as they care about controlling their citizens through controlling the Internet, at any rate.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:33pm

Considering that this is Russia and China, this isn't that surprising.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:42pm

Re:
Yeah, because we never see this sort of thing in the UK or US?
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:56pm

A paranoid person might think international governments are making a pre-emptive strike on the Internet
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:57pm

We must protect the children from freedom.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 4:58pm

I was smart enough not to have children.
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 5:03pm

Re: The real scandal in all of this?
No no freedom is bad. It kills our childrens.

We must stop freedom.

Protect the children !!Fuck you freedom.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 5:09pm

Re: Re:
you don't see transparent extensions of censorship regimes aimed at stifling political criticism becoming law, no. Not for a lack of effort by Lamar Smith, that being said.
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Hephaestus (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 5:42pm

Protect the children, this from a country that has underage children working 60 hour weeks.
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letherial (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 5:52pm

Re:
Protect the children to exploit them, thats how china rolls.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jul 2012 @ 7:40pm

I'll tell you how to protect the kids. DON'T HAVE THEM!

Shit is so screwed up right now it should be a crime to bring someone new into this mess.
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Rikuo (profile), 13 Jul 2012 @ 10:20pm

If these videos are so evil that they must be pre-screened...what about the pre-screeners? What's protecting them from the evilness in the videos? Are they somehow magically unaffected by the pornography, curse-words and other evilness?
If they're unaffected...then it means the videos they watch aren't as evil as they claim.
If they are affected...who would trust the word of someone whose mind has been warped?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2012 @ 1:40am

and where did they get the idea from of increasing internet censorship? the thick fucking US and UK governments! the very governments that condemn on the one hand any form of censorship, invasion of privacy and eroding of human rights and the governments that carry out these practices, whilst on the other hand actually take these practices to levels greater than the countries they condemn do atm! how friggin crazy is that? just to add more stupidity into the equation, they are going to further condemn the increases in censorship these countries are going to implement and the probable increase in citizen maltreatment, after having done so themselves already. which other supposed democratic countries spy on just about every movement of all citizens? the US! which country locks you up for password protecting your data, then condemns you for not protecting it? the UK! you cant get much more hypocritical than this!!
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Wolfy, 14 Jul 2012 @ 7:40am

It's probably already been said here, but Russia and China have been the only thing between Syria's Assad and the World Court in the Hague.

They both want to preserve the "right" of governments to massacre or enslave their populations as they choose. Russia just passed extremely harsh new laws that will stifle accurate reporting and effective political opposition. They've also passed a law requiring anyone working for an NGO to register as an "agent of a foreign power".
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abc gum, 14 Jul 2012 @ 7:48am

Re: Re: Re:
"you don't see transparent extensions of censorship regimes aimed at stifling political criticism becoming law"

lolwut?
You can't be serious.
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relghuar, 14 Jul 2012 @ 10:01am

Ouch
Russia and China......
.....

.......

..... protecting people's rights?

Sorry, this really didn't even make it to the same paragraph :-/
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vegetaman (profile), 14 Jul 2012 @ 10:44am

It's simple...
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

Also, there's this whole misnomer about legislating morality because "just a little bit will protect us"... Something about the path to hell being paved with good intentions (though apparently near-sighted and foolish ones, at that)?
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JoeCool (profile), 14 Jul 2012 @ 6:04pm

Re: Re:
Too right! If you don't protect them, they won't be fit for working 60 hours a week! Just think, if the children could get on any old web site, they might find out that children elsewhere don't work 60 hours a week. They have to be protected from such sites!
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