Editing Internet censorship in China (section)

==Background==
{{Further|Censorship in China}}
The political and ideological background of Internet censorship is considered to be one of [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s favorite sayings in the early 1980s: "If you open a window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html|title=» Great Firewall of China Torfox|website=cs.stanford.edu|access-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104061437/http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html|archive-date=4 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The saying is related to a period of the [[Chinese economic reform]] that became known as the [[socialist market economy]]. Superseding the political ideologies of the [[Cultural Revolution]], the reform led China towards a market economy, opening it up to foreign investors. Nonetheless, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) wished to protect its values and political ideas by "swatting flies" of other ideologies,<ref>R. MacKinnon "Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic discourse in China" Public Choice (2008) 134: p. 31–46, Springer</ref> with a particular emphasis on suppressing movements that could potentially threaten the stability of the country.

The Internet first arrived in the country in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-27 |title=Evolution of Internet in China |url=http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1378/20060323/t20060323_4285.shtml |access-date=2024-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527120608/http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1378/20060323/t20060323_4285.shtml |archive-date=27 May 2012 }}</ref> Since its arrival and the gradual rise of availability, the Internet has become a common communication platform and an important tool for sharing information. Just as the Chinese government had expected, the number of Internet users in China soared from less than one percent in 1994, when the Internet was introduced, to 28.8 percent by 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=» Great Firewall of China Torfox |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html |access-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616020904/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html |archive-date=16 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1998, the CCP feared the [[China Democracy Party]] (CDP), organized in contravention of the [[Four Cardinal Principles]], would breed a powerful new network that CCP party elites might not be able to control resulting in the<ref>Goldman, Merle Goldman. Gu, Edward X. (2004). Chinese Intellectuals Between State and Market.  [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|0-415-32597-8}}</ref> CDP being immediately banned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Jack L. |last2=Wu |first2=Tim |title=Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-515266-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/whocontrolsinter00gold/page/91 91] |url=https://archive.org/details/whocontrolsinter00gold/page/91 }}</ref> That same year, the [[Golden Shield Project|Golden Shield project]] was created. The first part of the project lasted eight years and was completed in 2006. The second part began in 2006 and ended in 2008. The Golden Shield project was a database project in which the government could access the records of each citizen and connect China's security organizations. The government had the power to delete any comments online that were considered harmful.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Great Firewall of China|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-firewall-of-china |publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331034226/https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-firewall-of-china|archive-date=31 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 6 December 2002, 300 members in charge of the Golden Shield project came from 31 [[Province (China)|provinces]] and [[List of cities in China|cities]] across China to participate in a four-day inaugural "Comprehensive Exhibition on Chinese Information System".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adsale.com.hk/tw/iframe/anews-s3-n4.asp|title=Adsale Group – Adsale Corporate Website|access-date=31 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713051901/http://www.adsale.com.hk/tw/iframe/anews-s3-n4.asp|archive-date=13 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> At the exhibition, many Western technology products including [[Internet security]], [[video monitoring]], and [[facial recognition system]]s were purchased. According to [[Amnesty International]], around 30,000–50,000 Internet police have been employed by the Chinese government to enforce Internet laws.<ref name=amnesty>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org.au/china/comments/10926/ |title=What is internet censorship? |date=28 March 2008 |publisher=[[Amnesty International Australia]] |access-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427065800/http://www.amnesty.org.au/china/comments/10926/ |archive-date=27 April 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The Chinese government has described censorship as the method to prevent and eliminate "risks in the ideological field from the Internet".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-04/04/c_1124325852.htm|title=提升网络意识形态领域风险防范化解能力-中共中央网络安全和信息化委员会办公室|website=www.cac.gov.cn|access-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407150325/http://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-04/04/c_1124325852.htm|archive-date=7 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=|date=August 2020}}