No Surprise: China Seeks More Internet Control

Paul Mozur at the New York Times has it right in a tweet:

China draft law either cuts off the Internet, makes it harder to host websites in China, or does something else: https://t.co/dsGoDq6p0y

— Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) March 29, 2016

And Beijing is most likely looking at doing both.

Social stability is a major concern of the government leadership. The economic slowdown is now causing massive layoffs with more to come. Industrial workers and the growing middle class in China are now under threat of loosing the economic stability promised by the government.

For so long the Chinese government has basically told the people of China that if they — the people — don’t push for political reform, the government will implement economic reform that will make everyone’s lives better. Now that businesses in China have to start cutting back on employees, that protection is gone and the leadership is afraid the people may demand changes that will challenge the iron heel rule of the Communist Party.

Rather than deal with the issue of economic AND political reform, Beijing is just going all out to make sure information about how bad the economic situation is does not get wide distribution.

Controlling Internet content has always been a part of that plan. So now, the new rules on domain names looks to be another step by the party leadership to control information.

• NYT: Beijing Seeks to Tighten Reins on Websites in China
• China Digital Times: China Previews Murky Web Domain Rules
• Global Times (Official China publication): Draft rule targets Chinese domain name supervision 

Internet Freedom in Latin America: Key Threats and Opportunities

Sounds like a great conference later this week.

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm

LOCATION: Casa Lamm, Alvaro Obregón 99 Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc. 06700 México City, México

Freedom House along with co-sponsors Hack Hackers Mexico, the International Center for Journalists, and the Graduate Program for Journalism and Public Affairs at the Center for Research and Teaching Economics (CIDE) invites you to a regional conversation about internet freedom. Over the past year, a number of developments, both positive and negative, have altered the landscape of Internet freedom in Latin America. The discussion, as moderated by Alba Mora Roca, a distinguished journalist from Spain, will bring together media freedom specialists from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, and Mexico to offer insight into the positive advancements and potentially restrictive legislation impacting internet freedom across Latin America.

Introductory remarks by: Mariclaire Acosta, @FHespanol, Freedom House, Mexico

Moderated by: Alba Mora Roca, @albamoraroca Hacks Hackers, Mexico

Concluding comments by: Ricardo Raphael de la Madrid, @ricardomraphael, CIDE, Mexico

Featuring speakers:

• Eleonora Rabinovich, Director of Asociación por Los Derechos Civiles, Argentina
• Cristiana Gonzalez, Senior Researcher and Ph.D. candidate University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Ernesto Hernández Busto, Blogger and Essayist, Cuba/Spain
• Carlos Correa Loyola, Senior Counsel to the Rector Technical Particular University at Loja, Ecuador
• Alejandra Ezeta, Social Media Consultant at EEB Consultoria/Ciudadanos en Medios, A.C, , Mexico
• Jorge Luis Sierra, ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellow, Mexico

To register, click here.

Follow the event at @FHespanol on Twitter and by using hashtag #netfreedom