Top > Webmaster > 2006 > July > 2006-07-03

Blogs Considered Hazardous in China

Chinese authorities aren`t pleased with the information flow that the internet has brought the Asian country. Search engines and other online sources of information have been censored and now the Chinese government is looking to control blogs as well. Blog communities enable users to speak their mind about any topic in the world and share there thoughts with other online participants. China wants to stop such online activities.

President Hu Jintao`s government has ordered several web sites to be shut down, and journalists to be jailed. "As more and more illegal and unhealthy information spreads through the blog and search engine, we will take effective measures to put the BBS, blog and search engine under control," said Cai Wu, director of the Information Office of China`s Cabinet, quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Chinese authorities encourage internet usage in China for educational and business proposes only. They are working on restricting access to material deemed obscene or politically dangerous. China is the second-largest internet using population in the world after the United States with more than 111 million people online, but that doesn`t change the Chinese stand towards the freedom of information.