July, 2009

Negotiable Space on the Green Dam Issue

Sandy WONG
Honorary Research Fellow of China Ministry, HKCI

　　The Chinese government temporally backed off its demands to install the controversial Web-filtering “Green Dam-Youth Escort” software on all PCs. The Green Dam software, as the government publicly stated, was used for the intent of protecting children from harmful Internet content. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) delayed the program due to feedback from PC makers, which said they needed more time to carry out the installation. When the news of the delay was spreading, thousands of opponents of the plan celebrated the triumph in various ways. The question is: why did the opponents triumph?

　　The criticizing voices should not be the main reason for the government’s backdown. The Wall Street Journal first broke the story in early June. It used a provocative story headline—“China Squeezes PC Makers”—to arouse people’s attention on the government’s attempt to restrict the free flow of information. Most China watchers considered that Beijing was going to use the software to block access to sensitive political and social online resources that the regime considers dangerous. Indeed, the massive application of the Internet is playing a crucial role in spreading information and reshaping people’s ideas in globalization. Fearing of this, China regularly blocks access to websites that it finds objectionable, including those dealing with politically sensitive subjects such as the Falun Gong religious cult and independence for Taiwan and Tibet, along with some pornographic sites. Although the idea of sovereignty over all affairs within its territorial borders has been challenged by a host of factors and developments, China refused to give up its right of controlling information. In fact, the Chinese government does not announce, comment or respond when a site is blocked or made available.

However, the Green Dam program is a different story, though it was similarly criticized for increasing Internet censorship and adding a new and powerful control mechanism to the existing filtering system. The biggest difference is that the government legitimated its decision by arguing the Green Dam software can protect China’s children from all inappropriate contents, predators, and other bad things that abound on the Internet. Preventing “pornographic and vulgar” content from corrupting youths was a challenge even during media eras of the past. The task has become even more serious and complex in the Internet age. However, this legitimating action and the argument itself made the Green Dam issue more negotiable than any other issues that also involve censorship. People can discuss or negotiate this issue with the government on two points at least. In fact, opponents already did so.

　　Firstly, the Chinese government cannot guarantee the security of the software. Researchers at the University of Michigan found out that the software filter leaves users vulnerable to malicious site that might steal personal data or install codes on the personal computer. The powerful central coordination mechanism is also accompanied by a higher vulnerability to security breaches and malicious activities. Several vulnerabilities have already been documented. The Green Dam software creates so many security problems that it gives Chinese citizens a strong incentive to circumvent it.

　　Further, as some people have claimed, the Green Dam recognizes pornographic images by analyzing skin-coloured regions, complemented by human face recognition. However, according to a Southern Weekly article, the software is incapable of recognizing pictures of nudity featuring black- or red-skinned characters but sensitive enough to images with large patches of yellow that it censors promotional images of the film Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. In the 21 June 2009 issue of Ming Pao reported a testing which censored pictures of Chinese political leaders, stating those were pornography!

　　Some Chinese websites use online polls to reveal poor acceptance of the software by netizens due to its insecurity. For example, at Sohu, over 70% of poll participants said filtering softwares would not effectively prevent minors from browsing inappropriate websites. A poll conducted by the Southern Metropolis Daily showed similar results. On 11 June 2009, a team even released a third-party tool aiming to provide users with options to disable the software, change the master password and perform post-uninstallation clean-up.

　　Many pressures come from the international community as well. Many foreign business organizations said the software’s problems are related to “security, privacy, system stability, the freedom to disseminate information, and user choice rights.” U.S. industry associations representing computer manufacturers have asked China to reconsider the requirement, based on concerns ranging from cyber-security and performance of the software to Internet freedoms.

　　Secondly, the validity of choosing the software company was questioned. As reported, the software was developed by Zhengzhou Jinhui Computer System Engineering Ltd. with input from Beijing Dazheng Human Language Technology Academy Ltd. Even in the Chinese history, introducing a product standard by mandating the use of a particular software product made by a specific company for individual use at a national level is unprecedented. People worry that the influence of the government with Green Dam will grant the company a monopoly position. People are questioning the 40 million RMB spent by the government to secure a year-long contract with Jinhui, saying that users uninstalling the software generally will result in a lavish waste of taxpayers’ money. Internet users are also questioning the policy based on the government’s possible violation of China’s anti-monopoly law or its law against unfair competition. People also argued that, even for controlling Internet content, the shortcomings to the government of a centralized single provider solution are very obvious. This precludes the most effective elements in promoting innovation and quality assurance—namely, user feedback, competition and market mechanisms—making this a highly questionable choice.

　　Some analysts opined that choosing Green Dam software without open bidding may have violated the government’s purchasing law and involved favoritism. For example, one Beijing-based lawyer is challenging the policy’s legality based on an October 2008 Chinese legislative notice that requests government agencies to “hold hearings for items subject to examination and approval which concern the major public interests or the vital interests of the people” (the MIIT announced the Green Dam policy without holding a hearing). The Cai Jing Magazine pointed out that MIIT, according to relevant legal requirements, should have acquired the best filtering software through competitive bidding and according to fair, open and transparent administrative procedures. The type of information filtered should be clearly described. A PC buyer should be able to get this free software and decide independently whether or not to install it.

　　Of course, the Green dam is a scary stuff. People are not clear at all if this issue will just go away, or if China will just look for another, more secure solution. The public opinion should have delivered a warning to the government: to require all PC users to install this particular software on their machines will end up challenge itself. Given the myriad problems with the tool, China may pull back from requiring installation of this tool in its current state. The government’s attempt at surveillance and social control is not going to be effective in the long run.