Amidst widespread criticism of Chinese censorship of the internet and of the US internet giants that have caved into this censorship (see previous postings here and here), the Chinese government defended its policies, claiming it complies with international norms. Liu Zhengrong, China's deputy chief of internet affairs added that Western criticism of his country's practices is hypocritical since China "is being no different from Western nations."

Zhengrong asserted that "Regulating the Internet according to law is international practice. After studying Internet legislation in the West, I've found we basically have identical legislative objectives and principles."

US internet giants have come under fire for blocking blogs at the demand of the Chinese government, for handing over personal email records to the Chinese authorities (an action which resulted in a journalist being sentenced to 10 years in prison), and for helping create what is now termed 'the great firewall of China', one of the most sophisticated internet censorship systems in the world.

The US government has set up 'The Global Internet Freedom Task Force' to monitor the restriction of internet freedom worldwide. A special focus will be placed on China. Additionally, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Cisco systems will appear before a US House of Representatives human rights panel in connection with their compliance with the Chinese authorities.

Yahoo made the following statement about internet freedom and the newly established task force: "We applaud the direction of the secretary of state in establishing the Global Internet Freedom Task Force. This embraces the government-to-government approach that Yahoo has been urging ... We are deeply concerned by efforts of governments to restrict and control open access to information and communication."

Source: AFP (registration required)