Government backs down on Green Dam but concerns remain

Reporters Without Borders is relieved by yesterday’s government announcement that installation of its “Green Dam-Youth Escort” Internet-filtering software will not be obligatory on individually-owned computers but is nonetheless concerned that installation is to go ahead on computers in schools and Internet cafés. “We hail this decision, which is the result of a major international outcry involving both government officials and the Chinese-language blogosphere,” Reporters Without Borders said. “But the ministry of industry and information technology’s insistence on installing the software on computers in schools, Internet cafés and other public places continues to worry us. As Internet cafés are very popular in China, this could do online freedom of information a great deal of harm.” At a news conference yesterday, industry and information technology minister Li Yizhong said Green Dam’s installation would be optional. It had been poorly presented and explained and had been misunderstood, he said, claiming that that there had never been any intention of making its installation on individually-owned computers obligatory. The decision to let people choose whether or not to install Green Dam was hailed yesterday by the US government, which had played a key role in lobbying the Chinese authorities against its obligatory installation on computers. At yesterday’s conference, organised by the State Council’s Information Bureau, Li nonetheless said installation would go head on computers in schools, Internet cafés and other public places in order to protect young people from pornography and other harmful content. However, the authorities have not provided any details about of the kind of content that will be considered inappropriate. The limits of this content filtering need to be clearly defined in order to avoid excesses. While it is legitimate to want to regulate the Internet, it would be unacceptable if this software were to restrict online freedom. China has more Internet users than any other country in the world – more than 300 million – but its censorship of the Internet is also one of the world’s strictest. It was ranked 167th out of 173 countries in the 2008 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.