Yuxi, Problem-solution essay draft 3
Social media has become an essential ingredient of the lifestyle in China; people depend heavily on social media for almost everything. For example, the exchange of information. Because of the broadness of social media, information shared by a single internet user can spread throughout the whole world in the blink of an eye. It definitely benefits users with the speed and range in which information can be accessed. This is vastly superior to the capacities of the past. It is not an exaggeration to say that the fast pace of development in today’s China depends heavily on social media. However, social media, like all other advanced technologies, not only brings advantages, but at the same time also brings about disadvantages to the country. An example of this disadvantage is the circulation of false information. Due to the circulation of false information, which can lead to serious problems like social unrest, it is necessary for the Chinese government to take up measures in order to control the accessibility of social media.*
Technology generally acts as a double-edged sword. It depends on how the user goes about using it. China, being the country with the largest population in the world, faces daunting obstacles in trying to effectively control the information flow online to the citizens or even the world. Hence, there are plenty of incidents where circulation of false information has caused chaos in the country.* False information includes disaster warnings, war/terrorism reports or even false reports of the deaths of top Chinese officials(Chen Po Kong2014). These fear-mongering scares have caused not only horror among the citizens, but also may drive citizens to desperate action out of fear. False information has the capacity for extremely harmful influence, and hence the Chinese government has to come up with measures to halt the circulation of such attempts. *
The circulation of false information travels fast in China, despite China’s large population. One reason might be that because these false reports touch on issues of common concern of the people, for example economic and political development, environmental issues, food safety or corruption. The people are very likely to come across this information through regular web usage. Citizens don’t have the proper channels or resources quickly available to check the validity of all the information read, but due to the perceived importance of these reports, they quickly incite anger among citizens; this is the root for social unrest.*
The Chinese government has come up with several measures to counter the problem, one of them being to improve and tighten internet security. One such measure is the censorship programs. In addition, China has even formed a new cyber-security group, led by minister Xi JingPing.(Paul Mozur2014)* Moreover, China is currently developing 40000 strong police officer force to monitor internet traffic and to prevent the circulation of false information on social media.To do so, they work day and night to scan though information uploaded on social media websites, deleting any misinformation they find and arresting the person spreading the false information.(Nils Hedberg 2012) For example, to monitor a well-used social media website in China, Micro blog, China’s government hired two million people to control the content flowing within the social media site everyday, in order to detect and remove all content that could possibly lead to social unrest.(Katie Hunt and CY Xu, CNN 2013) However, it was not that effective. Because internet has too many ways to deliver information, it is hard for the security personnel to control every sliver of information that is delivered online. Two millions sounds like a large number, but against the number of social media users in China and throughout the world, it is largely ineffective.
The second measure that has been taken up by the Chinese government is to limit accessibility to social media for all users in the country. Foreign social media sites in China are becoming more and more difficult to access. Most of the foreign social media sites are banned by the government. For example, Twitter and Facebook were both banned after a deadly riot happened in Xin Jiang, which was sparked by the rumors floating around those mediums.(Robin Wauters 2009) To prevent this sort of event from happening again, China’s government has to effectively limit the damage done by the foreign countries circulating false information that can compromise China’s security. Moreover, the government works together with big local companies like Qianlong, Sogou, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Sina Weibo microblogging services to control the information that is uploaded by their users, effectively limiting the possibility of the circulation of false information online.(Ellyne Phneah 2013) However, it may not be effective, as tools such as tunneling websites can be used by users to break though or bypass the firewalls set up by the government.
It is clear that the circulation of false information has become a serious problem in China. Although the government has employed several measures to counter the problem, these were not enough to solve the problem.Hence there are still long way for China government to progress in order to solve the problem. Moreover, circulation of false information in social media will not only affect an individual’s life or just the local population. It is very much a worldwide issue that all countries must pay attention to. It is possible the reason for next world war may very well start with a widespread false rumor online.
Ellyne Phneah.(august 2,2013)Chinese Internet firms launch site to debunk online rumors,retrieved(April 2,2015) from http://www.zdnet.com/article/chinese-internet-firms-launch-site-to-debunk-online-rumors/
Nils Hedberg.(March 22, 2012)China: 40.000 Police Officers Monitor the Internet,retrieved(April 2,2015) from http://www.hjalmarsonfoundation.se/2012/03/china-40-000-police-officers-monitor-the-internet/
Katie Hunt and CY Xu, CNN(October 7, 2013)China 'employs 2 million to police internet' retrieved(April 2,2015) from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/07/world/asia/china-internet-monitors/
Chen,PK.(September 9,2014)江泽民已经死亡？[Jiang Zemin had died ?],retrieved(April 2,2015) from http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/chenpokong/js-09092014110623.html
PAUL MOZUR(Feb. 27, 2014 )China's Leaders Take Aim at Internet Security, retrieved(April2,2015) from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304071004579408744199648388
Robin Wauters(Jul 7, 2009)China Blocks Access To Twitter, Facebook After Riots,
Retrieved(April2,2015) from http://techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/china-blocks-access-to-twitter-facebook-after-riots/
Thinking chinese,Fighting rumors: A new way to supervise the Chinese internet sphere, retrieved(April 2,2015) from
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