Editing Internet censorship in China (section)

===Golden shield project ===
The [[Golden Shield Project]] maintained and constructed by the [[Ministry of Public Security (China)|Ministry of Public Security]] (MPS) of the People's Republic of China started in 1998, began processing in November 2003, and the first part of the project passed the national inspection on 16 November 2006 in Beijing. According to MPS, its purpose is to construct a communication network and computer information system for police to improve their capability and efficiency. By 2002, the preliminary work of the Golden Shield Project had cost "US$800 million (equivalent to RMB 6,400 million or €640 million)."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking Through the "Golden Shield" |url=https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/e7d8b223-df0a-4975-b40b-c9914a58b626/china-internet-censorship-20041101.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=opensocietyfoundations.org |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002049/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/e7d8b223-df0a-4975-b40b-c9914a58b626/china-internet-censorship-20041101.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Greg Walton, a freelance researcher, said that the aim of the Golden Shield is to establish a "gigantic online database" that would include "speech and face recognition, [[closed-circuit television]]... [and] credit records" as well as traditional Internet use records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/globalization/CGS_ENG.PDF |title=China's Golden Shield |first=Greg |last=Walton |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706175552/http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/globalization/CGS_ENG.PDF |archive-date=6 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A notice<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/ministry-of-industry-and-information-technology/ |title=China News: Ministry of Industry And Information Technology |work=China Digital Times |access-date=27 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404175724/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/ministry-of-industry-and-information-technology/ |archive-date=4 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> issued by the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology]] on 19 May stated that, as of 1 July 2009, manufacturers must ship machines to be sold in mainland China with the [[Green Dam Youth Escort]] software.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last=Chao |first=Loretta |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124440211524192081 |title=China Squeezes PC Makers |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=8 June 2009 |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711004558/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124440211524192081 |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 14 August 2009, [[Li Yizhong]], minister of industry and information technology, announced that computer manufacturers and retailers were no longer obliged to ship the software with new computers for home or business use, but that schools, Internet cafes and other public use computers would still be required to run the software.

A senior official of the [[State Council Information Office#Internet Affairs Bureau|Internet Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information Office]] said the software's only purpose was "to filter pornography on the Internet". The general manager of Jinhui, which developed Green Dam, said: "Our software is simply not capable of spying on Internet users, it is only a filter."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Porn filters 'are not spyware' |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-06/09/content_8265562.htm |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002026/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-06/09/content_8265562.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Human rights advocates in China have criticized the software for being "a thinly concealed attempt by the government to expand censorship".<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Jacobs |title=Experts Say Chinese Filter Would Make PCs Vulnerable |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13china.html?ref=world |work=The New York Times |date=13 June 2009 |access-date=13 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531075626/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13china.html?ref=world |archive-date=31 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Online polls conducted on [[Sina.com|Sina]], [[Netease]], [[Tencent QQ|Tencent]], [[Sohu]], and ''Southern Metropolis Daily'' revealed over 70% rejection of the software by [[netizen]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/86243.htm |trans-title=Polls by four leading portals say over 80% of netizens "reject" Green Dam |script-title=zh:四大门户调查显示：超八成网友"拒绝"绿坝 |language=zh |publisher=cnBeta.com |date=11 June 2009 |access-date=11 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625082358/http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/86243.htm |archive-date=25 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://tech.163.com/09/0611/03/5BGEP73T000915BD.html|script-title=zh:八成网友拒装"绿坝"，金惠、大正受命封口|trans-title=80% of netizens refuse to install "Green Dam"; Jinhui, Dazheng ordered to remain silent|first=Gao|last=ingyun|newspaper=Southern Metropolis Daily|date=11 June 2009|access-date=11 June 2009|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615071317/http://tech.163.com/09/0611/03/5BGEP73T000915BD.html|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> However, [[Xinhua]] commented that "support [for Green Dam] largely stems from end users, opposing opinions primarily come from a minority of media outlets and businesses."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/12/content_11532769.htm|script-title=zh:过滤软件之争"争的是什么|trans-title=What is controversial about the filter software controversy?|agency=Xinhua|date=12 June 2009|access-date=13 June 2009|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615070200/http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/12/content_11532769.htm|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.danwei.org/state_media/everyone_loves_content_filters.php|title=Everyone loves content filters, Xinhua says|first=Joel|last=Martinsen|publisher=Danwei.org|date=12 June 2009|access-date=12 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616081139/http://www.danwei.org/state_media/everyone_loves_content_filters.php|archive-date=16 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Political scientist Margaret Roberts contends that most Chinese censorship methods do not ban information outright but instead function "as a tax on information, forcing users to pay money or spend more time if they want to access the censored material."<ref name=":Laikwan">{{Cite book |last=Laikwan |first=Pang |title=One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty |date=2024 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9781503638815 |location=Stanford, CA |pages=174 |doi=10.1515/9781503638822}}</ref>