Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Didn’t we do well: internet regulator praises China’s whistle-blowers

Didn’t we do well: internet regulator praises China’s whistle-blowers

Work of public army of censors has become a crucial part of the country’s online governance, Cyberspace Administration of China says.
Watchdog received 165 million reports of inappropriate material in 2018, twice the number from a year earlier, it says

China’s top internet regulator has given itself a pat on the back for successfully mobilising the world’s largest online population as its unofficial censors.

People blowing the whistle on one another for uploading “harmful” content has become a crucial part of the country’s online governance, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement released on Friday.

Last year alone, 165 million reports of such material were filed across the country, a figure more than double the previous year’s and four times the number in 2016, the agency said.

While the total looks set to continue growing, the number of reports filed in the first six months of this year was up only 9 per cent from the same period of 2018.

China’s ruling Communist Party maintains a vice-like grip on the nation’s internet via a sophisticated censorship system known as the Great Firewall that blocks large numbers of foreign websites and slows down traffic for others.

According to CAC director Zhuang Rongwen all of China’s internet users – it has about 854 million, or more than two-and-a-half times the population of the United States – are encouraged to join the “people’s war” to rehabilitate the “cyber ecology”.

Beijing’s strict censorship, coupled with President Xi Jinping’s wider crackdown on all forms of dissent, has led to widespread concern among liberal intellectuals, journalists and opinion leaders in China who complain of unfair scrutiny and censorship of their social media posts for even the mildest criticism of government policy or slightest deviation from the party line.

In the early days of Hong Kong’s summer of discontent, for instance, posts that sought to explain why Hongkongers were taking to the streets to oppose the extradition law were a prime target for the army of whistle-blowers.

The CAC even provides a list of subjects that the volunteer censors should look out for and report. It includes: information that undermines national security or interests; incites the subversion of state power, the socialist system or succession; promotes terrorism, extremism or ethnic hatred; spreads violence, obscenity or pornography; disturbs economic or social orders; violates other people’s reputation or privacy; or breaks the law or regulations in any other way.

Besides its length, critics say the terms used by the regulator are so vague that they can be interpreted in any way it chooses.

The whistle-blowing system has been around since 2004, when a centre for reporting illegal and harmful information was set up under the CAC. A year later, rules were drawn up for rewarding whistle-blowers, and they can now receive up to 2,000 yuan (US$280) for the information they provide, although it is not clear exactly how the awards are determined.

The network now comprises 21 provincial centres for handling reports and more than 2,600 websites through which people can make them, the CAC said.
The administration made particular mention of the work carried out by its reporting centre in China’s far western Xinjiang region, which it said had harnessed the power of internet users “to discover and handle violent, terrorist and extremist information”, and which in turn had made an “important contribution to maintaining social stability”.

Xinjiang has been the focus of a harsh security crackdown and controversial “deradicalisation programme” by Beijing that has reportedly led to the detention of more than 1 million Uygurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the name of fighting terrorism and religious extremism.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×