Several primary documents related to the government-mandated Green Dam censorware/malware - and the opposition to it - have emerged over the past 12 hours or so. Here are some of them:
- In chatrooms like this one people have been posting scanned copies of the above notice sent from the Central Propaganda Department to news media, telling them to tone down the criticism and take on a more positive tone toward Green Dam. The document has been quoted in blog posts like this one as well.
- Chinese Lawyer Challenges Filtering Software Order and Requests Public Hearing. Human Rights in China has translated the request by Beijing rights lawyer Li Fangping. Summary: "Li challenges the legality of the directive, citing an October 2008 notice1 sent by the State Council – China’s legislature – to government agencies requesting them to “hold hearings for items subject to examination and approval which concern the major public interests or the vital interests of the people.” Using regulations relevant to the Chinese government’s Open Government Information policy, Li also submitted an application to MIIT requesting the ministry to make public the legal basis for the new directive and information relating to the approval process for the funds to purchase the software, the impartiality of the bidding process, and how the software would affect the protection of individual privacy and information security, etc."
- Green Dam censorship system internal brief to Chinese government, doc, Jan 2008 "This internal document from early 2008 contains negotiations between Jin Hui, the maker of the software, and the Chinese government, together with a detailed description of the Green Dam system." Posted as a downloadable PDF (very detailed, in Chinese) on Wikileaks.
- A technical analysis of the Chinese 'Green Dam Youth-Escort' censorship software, a collaborative work by Chinese bloggers and programmers, posted on Wikileaks and constantly being updated.
- Chinese Green Dam Falun Gong related censorship keywords: June 2009, posted on Wikileaks. So much for the claim by Jin Hui executives and officials that Green Dam censors porn only.
- GNI Principles Offer Guidance to ICT Manufacturing and Software Sector: The Global Network Initiative's position statement on Green Dam and appeal for computer manufacturers and software companies to follow the GNI principles for free expression and privacy. Below is the statement in full:
GNI Principles Offer Guidance to ICT Manufacturing and Software Sector
Posted: Jun 11, 2009
The Global Network Initiative is actively monitoring developments regarding the Chinese government’s directive that requires computer manufacturers to install the Green Dam/Youth Escort content control software on personal computers produced or sold in China. This directive is ostensibly intended to protect children from sexually explicit content, but in fact raises significant challenges for companies in the technology sector that also have a responsibility to respect human rights. The Global Network Initiative (GNI) offers a multi-stakeholder forum that provides operational guidance and a credible system for companies to develop effective strategies in response to these challenges.
Protection of children from exploitation and exposure to inappropriate material online is a legitimate public policy goal, which many countries around the world pursue. This goal can be achieved in ways consistent with international norms protecting the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. For example, public education regarding the availability of a wide variety of user-controlled filtering tools to choose from allows parents and guardians to manage unwanted content in a way that is most appropriate for children under their care. Various companies – including the three company members of GNI – as well as other organizations offer a wide range of such software tools. However, the government mandate to pre-load the Green Dam/Youth Escort software on all PCs produced and sold in China clearly raises human rights concerns that the information and communications technology (ICT) sector must address.
The GNI Principles are grounded in international human rights standards for freedom of expression and privacy. Under these standards, the right to freedom of expression should not be restricted by governments except in narrowly defined circumstances, consistent with international human rights norms and the rule of law. Importantly, such restrictions should be necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose.
Much about how the Green Dam/Youth Escort software functions in practice is yet to be determined and several GNI members are undertaking such an analysis. However, a number of facts about the software have been established that raise human rights concerns.
The concurrent and cumulative issues that implicate human rights and undermine user choice include the requirement for mandatory installation; the difficulty of uninstalling the software; and filtering that goes beyond sexually explicit or other content inappropriate for children. Results from independent tests of the software reported on Global Voices Online and elsewhere indicate that political content was indeed part of the website library of filtered content. An approach for protecting children online that requires the mandatory installation of a particular software package that is difficult to uninstall and filters far more than sexually explicit content is not consistent with the practices of other countries that have encouraged parental control tools and is far out of proportion to the goal of child protection.
Public opposition (including a legal challenge) to this software mandate within China is growing. The Chinese press and diverse parts of Chinese civil society have expressed concerns about privacy, security, transparency, consumer choice, and whether the cost of this effort is justifiable. In fact, the government recently clarified that use of the software by citizens is not mandatory in its official media statements. We hope that the domestic reaction within China will encourage the Chinese government to reconsider this mandate more fundamentally.
Nevertheless, there are many questions unanswered. Are any companies working with the software vendor to try and put the software in the market? If the government clarifies its directive so that the software is shipped on a disk but not pre-installed, what should companies do to avoid complicity in censorship of political, religious, and cultural information online? How can governments appropriately protect children from exploitation and exposure to inappropriate material? What steps should companies take to address such requests or directives? Hardware and software design companies will need to have adequate due diligence measures in place to ensure that they are prepared to address these questions in a way that respects fundamental human rights.
The GNI can help to address those dilemmas since it is a unique organization with the capacity to provide operational guidance on human rights issues in a collaborative setting. In particular, the GNI offers credible, operational guidance for companies, built on extensive experience, guided by a broad set of perspectives, and rooted in international human rights principles. The GNI also offers both technology sector companies and academics, investors, and non-governmental organizations an opportunity for frank discussion, collaboration on matters of public policy and corporate responsibility, and the sharing of expertise. Among the GNI principles and operational guidelines that are relevant to manufacturing and software companies:
* Participating companies will respect and protect the freedom of expression of their users by seeking to avoid or minimize the impact of government restrictions on freedom of expression.
* Participating companies will employ human rights impact assessments to identify circumstances when freedom of expression and privacy may be jeopardized or advanced, and develop appropriate risk mitigation strategies, e.g., when designing and introducing new technologies, products, and services.
* GNI participants will engage proactively with governments to reach a shared understanding of how government restrictions can be applied in a manner consistent with human rights norms. Companies will seek modification from authorized officials when government restrictions appear overbroad, not required by domestic law or inconsistent with international human rights standards.
* Participating companies will give clear, prominent, and timely notice to users when access to content has been limited due to government restrictions.
* GNI participants acknowledge and support appropriate initiatives that seek to identify, prevent, and limit access to illegal online activity such as child exploitation. Such initiatives raise potential concerns regarding freedom of expression and should therefore be narrowly tailored and subject to the rule of law.
A lot of the Western response to Green Dam has exhibited profound cultural biases about freedom, access, etc. Many Western commentators can't seem to understand why a government would be interested in protecting teeagers from the easily accesible and ubiquitous pornography available via Google and other Western search tools. Frankly, some of the commentary on Green Dam is very condenscending and is the product of people who have spent precious little time in China or really understanding Chinese culture. How dare those terrible Chinese try to protect their children from vulgarity, how dare they....yes, how dare Westerners assume that their values are universal....
Posted by: Lance | June 20, 2009 at 11:46 AM