China’s Internet Police Step Out of the Shadows
By Mark Magnier
After years of working in the shadows, China’s Internet police are stepping into the light.
On Monday, Chinese police officially unveiled an Internet inspection force that it said has long operated in the wings....
Xiao Qiang, founder China Digital Times, a U.S.-based civic group that monitors the Chinese Internet, said this campaign is the latest in a series of steps since Xi Jinping became China’s president in 2013 aimed at stepping up Internet control using new, more effective methods.
“Here, they’re taking Internet control from behind the screen, almost like they’re driving by in a police car,” said Mr. Xiao, who teaches at the University of California at Berkeley. “They’re escalating their efforts, putting in more resources. They don’t think they can control the Internet the way they want,” he added.
Mr. Xiao said police Internet campaigns are often framed as efforts to fight crime and pornography, but a broader objective is to control information and curtail dissent, he added. The problem for the censors is that Chinese netizens are becoming increasingly independent and difficult to control, Mr. Xiao said, complicating the job of monitoring and shaping the message. “The authorities are really desperate, and I don’t think it will work,” he said....