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[24]Policy / Civilization & Discontents

China to begin web monitoring with Clippy-style animated police

It's no secret that China heavily monitors the Internet traffic of its ...

   by [25]Jacqui Cheng - Aug 28, 2007 5:06 pm UTC

   Has your interaction with the local content censor gone cold and distant? China
   is attempting to put a friendlier face on its Internet traffic monitoring
   efforts. The [26]Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said today that it
   would begin using animated police officers on certain web sites to remind users
   to stay away from illegal content online. The cartoon characters will drive,
   walk, or bike across the screen every half hour and are meant to "startle"
   Internet users, reminding them that Big Brother is watching them.

   The new "service" will be rolled out on 13 of China's Internet portals beginning
   in September, [27]according to the Associated Press, including popular sites like
   [28]Sohu and [29]Sina. The Bureau said in a statement that it hopes to have the
   characters show up on all sites that are registered with the government by the
   end of the year. "We will continue to promote new images of the virtual police
   and update our Internet security tips in an effort to make the image of the
   virtual police more user friendly and more in tune with how web surfers use the
   Internet," it said.

   If China's citizens weren't aware that they were being [30]heavily [31]monitored
   before, this latest move will certainly serve as a "friendly" reminder that--if
   our experiences with Microsoft's Clippy or Bob are any guide--will surely make
   citizens want to throw their computers out the window. "I see that you are trying
   to read about Tiananmen Square. Remember, kids, nothing important happened
   there!"
   [chinacartoon.jpg]
   Image credit: AP

   Chinese citizens already view a heavily-filtered version of the Internet, with
   the Great Firewall of China filtering out materials that relate to democracy,
   certain events in China's history, and anything else that is not considered moral
   by the government.

   Logistically, it's unclear exactly how Chinese authorities plan to do this.
   Adding the described functionality on a site-by-site basis would be a huge
   undertaking, regardless of method--it would probably need to be carried out by
   adding an additional Flash layer on top of every single registered web site
   (which in itself is enough of a pain to make many web developers cry). It might
   be slightly more doable on a browser level to write a plug-in that would be
   required on all "approved" browsers, but that doesn't appear to be part of the
   Bureau's current plan.

   Will the cartoon characters actually "help" Chinese citizens stay away from sites
   that aren't approved by Big Brother? They might, although they probably won't be
   displayed on sites that are actually illegal. The friendly-looking e-officers
   will serve some small bit of functionality, though--if users need police help,
   clicking on the cartoon characters will bring them to the Bureau's web site.

   [32]Expand full story

   [33]Reader comments

   [34][jacqui-cheng2-sq.jpg]

   [35]Jacqui Cheng / Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has
   spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social
   networking, privacy, and more.
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