Google invents a new way to circumvent Beijing censorship on web
Beijing (AsiaNews) - Google has launched a new battle against censorship by Chinese authorities, through an application that alerts users to possible keywords at risk, suggesting others. The company describes the service as a "technical improvement". It makes no mention of the recent tight control on the Internet by the authorities after the arrest of Bo Xilai, controversial leader of the Communist Party of Chongqing. Recently they have even blocked web searches for restaurants, universities and tourist information sites with sensitive names.
After a long battle over censorship, in 2010 Google pulled out of the Chinese market. China's mainland users can access the Chinese language website developed for Hong Kong, but the connection is interrupted when introducing words or phrases deemed "dangerous" by the communist authorities.
The new service launched by Google warns Internet users if the word they are writing is subject to censorship, advising the user to remove the word, or suggesting another. The systems used by Beijing censors do not reveal which terms are prohibited. They try to hide the subject of the complaint by sending an error message as if there was a technical failure.
Wen Yunchao, Hong Kong Internet expert in, better known by his nickname Beifeng, pointed out that some users have identified at least 400 keywords that would trigger the mechanisms of censorship. "The new Google feature - he says - is a great way to help Chinese Internet users to find out which characters are controlled by the regime. This also helps people to understand the reason that authorities stop these terms." Wen said that some users in mainland China have tried the new service for fun. Wendy Liu, from Shenzhen smiled when the firewall blocked the word "ying" - the Chinese term for best actor - presumably to prevent people from criticizing Premier Wen Jiabao.
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23/01/2010
