internet - Freedom of speech - Yu Jie

David Cowhig kindly provided this summary (and the kind permission to pass it on) of a speech essayist Yu Jie gave at the University of Chicago.

Yu pointed out that while there are 80 million chinese online, the proportion in smaller cities and in the countryside is still very low; the great majority of users are still very young (16 - 25 age group), and most users use fake names to protect themselves. The space given to nationalistic/chauvinistic expression on the web continues to grow, while people expressing more rational calmer views are on the defensive. The communication channel that the web opens does allow people to meet many people they wouldn't have ordinarily met, gradually replacing the work unit and traditional organizations as social nexus. Web discussions do facilitate social protests -- Yu Jie gives the example of how people in his district in July 2003 mobilized to protest against some real estate deals that threatened their quality of life.

The website "Frontiers of Thought" gave a fine forum for academic and intellectual discussion until the government closed it in 1990. This website was recently reborn outside China at http://www.open-society.com/sixiang/
Despite the closure of "Frontiers" other similar websites such as Issues and Ideology appeared. The quality of articles and discussion on these website is at a considerably higher level than within the publications of official universities.

Political criticism on the web and the pressure of public opinion on the web have become significant forces. Chinese leaders rely on the web for much important information. This was particularly evident during the SARS epidemic when central government officials visiting Beijing and Tsinghua Universities made it clear to the students that they themselves were relying heavily on the web to stay informed about the epidemic.

The recent Sun Dawu web dissident case gives an example of the power of web opinion. Traditional conservative media such as Central Television were forbidden to report on this case. Most likely if it were not for pressure from web opinion, Sun would have been dealt with much more severely. In March, pressure from the web played a big part in the freeing of the three Tiananmen mothers -- other media were strictly forbidden to report on this case. The Sun Zhigang case was discussed on the web and then Nanfang Shangbao picked up the story. The paper was severely criticized by officials for reporting on the story.

The government puts great effort into suppressing speech on the internet using firewalls and other methods. Web users have responded with petitions protesting arrests that contravene Chinese law.

The best method for people facing a irrational, dictatorial government is for more and more people to tell the truth.

Yu also spoke May 12 at Harvard University.