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Beijing Adds Veneer of Legal Legitimacy on Censorship

Do Chinese authorities need more laws to surveil people? From the earliest days of the Chinese Communist Party, authorities have kept the closest of eyes on all behavior for signs of dissent. At that time, party members were obliged to report on one another; during the Cultural Revolution, that grim responsibility was imposed on teachers, married couples, and even children. Whether through the street committee system, the dossiers kept by work units, or the police-run “grid system,” Beijing has demonstrated consistent zeal for vast, intrusive surveillance networks.

The Chinese government’s love-hate relationship with online speech is well-documented. Beijing has expanded connectivity primarily for economic reasons, but also as a means to monitor and control individual views. The government has prosecuted people, like Uighur economist and peaceful critic Ilham Tohti and human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, for their online speech, adopted regulations setting out restrictions on content, and paid the “fifty-cent army” to steer online discussions to praise the government. 

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