Why are Chinese impressions of the internet so negative and why is government control the answer?
The negatives: a barrage of worries from the press, particularly about children. Guo Liang, who authored the 2007 survey report as well as directing the project, has had much international experience as the Chinese member of the World Internet Project and as a visiting lecturer and scholar at numerous Western universities and institutions. He writes that during the five years of surveying internet use in China, “media reports about negative aspects of the internet have increased both in scope and number.” Indeed, reports linking the internet to unfortunate or unsavory events abound. Many are personal, heavy with human interest and include names, hometowns, and photos. Here is a sampling: – In January, Beijing Today6 reported on a blogger who documented the two-month evolution of her husband’s affair with a work colleague and her own planned suicide, before she leaped 24 floors to her death. A curious netizen, as internet users are called in China, followed blog clues to track down the
