CHINA: Cracks Appearing in the "Great Firewall"

By Marina Litvinsky

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (IPS) - While the Internet boom in China has given citizens new avenues for self-expression, the government's tight control and censorship of content has made it difficult for the web to act as a platform for any major political dissent.

"Censorship (in China) is not perfect, but works well enough that no one has been able to organise a successful political movement through the Internet," said Rebecca MacKinnon, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Wednesday.

The China Internet Network Information Centre in Beijing says the number of Chinese Internet users reached 253 million last July, making it the world's largest Internet market. The estimate, based on a phone survey, found that nearly 70 percent of China's Internet users were 30 or younger.

"The Internet has brought a loss of control of authorities over culture, particularly youth culture," said MacKinnon, who has been studying China and the Internet since 2004.

Chinese youth are using the Internet in varied ways, even gaining international notoriety, like the "back dorm boys," by posting funny clips on the YouTube video sharing site.

"Before, if you wanted to be culturally famous, you needed to pass through official gatekeepers affiliated with the propaganda department," MacKinnon explained. "Now people are uploading (directly) onto the Internet."

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