China’s plan to install Internet filtering software in personal computers remains mired in confusion, with the software developer and the government sending out mixed signals yesterday. Two days after news broke that the program will be mandatory in all new computers made or sold in China from July 1, the general manager of the company which obtained the exclusive rights to supply and distribute the software said the installation is optional.
Mr Zhang Chenmin of Jinhui Computer System Engineering told The Straits Times that the software will be offered on a disc, packaged with the computers to new buyers. He insisted that press reports saying that the program would be pre-installed in computers were factually wrong. “There is a choice. You can choose if you want to install it. We obtained the contract through bidding,” he said. “Whatever you do not understand, please do not ask me anymore. We are just suppliers of the software. Please direct your queries to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.”
The ministry had published a notice on Tuesday instructing PC manufacturers and retailers to ensure their products are pre-installed with the new software, which is said was designed to stop young people from accessing pornographic websites. The order had led immediately to much discussion, speculation and confusion in China and abroad. Media reports suggested that the program – named Green Dam Youth Escort – will be installed on all computers before sale. The official Xinhua news agency, for example, called the software a “pre-installed Web filter”.
China Daily also reported yesterday that the “pornography filtering software will be installed on all computers sold in China from July 1”. There is much speculation as to the real intent of the filter, with some believing that the move by the Chinese government has more sinister aims than just combating porn.
A Washington-based group representing information technology companies called on China yesterday to reconsider its requirement, Reuters reported. Accusations that Green Dam is in effect spyware have been shot down by the Chinese authorities. “The software is designed to filter pornography on the Internet and that’s the only purpose of it,” said Mr Liu Zhengrong, deputy chief of the Internet Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information Office.
Foreign Minstry spokesman Qin Gang offered a robust defense on Tuesday during a routine media briefing, saying: “If you have children or are expecting a child, you could understand the concerns of the parents over unhealthy online content. “The Internet in China is open and the Chinese government is devoted to developing it. But the government also administers the Internet according to the law to prevent the spread of harmful content.”
Nonetheless, the government has used anti-porn online crackdowns as a pretext to tighten censorship and limit criticisms of the Chinese Communist Party. Netizens saw the Green Dam filter as yet another of such efforts, with one slamming it as a program that goes against international norms. “If foreigners’ computers do not require it and they do not have any problems, why does China have to install it? Are the Chinese inferior people?” the post asked. Another man read: “They should just shut down the Internet altogether. That would save you grand daddies the trouble. Learn from the people of North Korea. See how pure and simple they are.”
Written by Peh Shing Huei, China Bureau Chief (The Straits Times)