France defines "professional journalism," and China takes away one of the easiest blogging tools around.
BoingBoing pulls a two-fer today on silencing media and strictly defining journalism. First up, France bans the publishing of "violent images" or hosting of video showing such violence unless the person is a credentialed journalist. Even that definition is hazy. You can find a full report here off Macworld.
China decided to add Livejournal, aka Kid Blogger, to its list of banned websites. While considered to be mainly for teens, LJ is still used by a good number of the Web in terms of coverage and dare I say reporting.
It's easy to say, "If people want to do it, they'll find a way around it." But when blogging is illegal and capturing your own video of a "violent" event can land you in jail longer than if you assaulted someone, those are two good ways to keep a country quiet.
melissah @ Sun, 03/11/2007 - 3:02pm
I'm surprised that it has taken China this long to ban blogs. I was actually scanning the list for mention of blogs when American media first reported on Google's customized and censored web interface made specifically for China.
I've met a few Chinese teens from the Mainland in New York when I was high school, and I don't really like them. I am Chinese, and they were Chinese, as well as brain-washed Chinese communist raving drones overspilling with racist and sexist comments. I'm sure they could even think of something culturally superior and racist to say about wood. Or water for that matter.
Back to my point. Very few Chinese citizens know that their media is limited, or that their version of the internet is not the world's version. To an extent, they are aware of the idea of censorship, the same way we know movies with curses are censored when aired on public television. They are largely unaware that entire people groups (such as Tibetans and theTaiwanese) are being severely underreported on and silenced. If I were them, I'd ban the word "blog" the same way they banned the word "human rights." Not only do those terms come up with nothing, but on web browsers, email, and instant messenging, China is so helpful and sweet to offer a pop-up message reminding (or threatening - depends how you look at it) you that "human rights" is a naughty word.