Chinese Internet users trash new censorship software

The Chinese government made waves again yesterday as it released its controversal new Internet censorship program known as "Green Dam — Youth Escort." The move has privacy activists fuming over China’s declaration that all new computers must be equipped with the software. But although the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology claims Green Dam is ...

The Chinese government made waves again yesterday as it released its controversal new Internet censorship program known as "Green Dam -- Youth Escort."

The Chinese government made waves again yesterday as it released its controversal new Internet censorship program known as "Green Dam — Youth Escort."

The move has privacy activists fuming over China’s declaration that all new computers must be equipped with the software. But although the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology claims Green Dam is capable of blocking inappropriate content with "95 per cent accuracy in 0.2 seconds," initial consumer reports say the program has been less than effective:

I have to come to this Web site and curse. After we installed the software, many normal Web sites are banned. … For example, when [Network News] reports that there is a campaign against pornographic Web sites, the software bans the story because the term "pornographic Web sites" was used. Don’t tell me how great the software technology is, because this is a piece of junk."

 And another:

How much flesh color does it take to make something ‘pornography’? I went on the Internet to check out some animal photos. A lovely little naked pig was sent onto the black list. Pitiful little pig! I was curious, so I looked up some photos of naked African women. Oh, they were not censored!"

Complaints over filter accuracy aside, it’s still unclear whether the program actually works as advertised. In tests conducted by the South China Morning Post and the European Commmission’s KDNet, Green Dam required intensive micro-management and failed to block explicit material on any consistent basis.

Brian Fung is an editorial researcher at FP.

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