Great firewall of China: war on cybercafe society.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

COMMUNIST PARTY doctrine may be evolving, but the Chinese government recently renewed its commitment to a time-honored practice: censorship. Long famous for building firewalls to keep its citizens "protected" from foreign Web sites, the government now has begun to close down public cybercfes--the only access most Chinese have to the Internet. Since a June fire in an illicit, locked-door cybercafe in Beijing killed more than two dozen people, the Chinese government has closed down 150,000 such shops across the country.

The government has allowed a few cafes in Beijing to reopen, but they are strictly regulated. Owners have to pledge not to spread information that might be against the interests of Chinese state security and stability. They also can't operate near schools, where a younger generation hungry for information from the outside world could be easily corrupted...