China: Controls tighten as Internet activism grows

[Resistance]

Amnesty International

This document updates Amnesty International's first major reports on the Internet in China, People's Republic of China: State Control of the Internet in China, ASA 17/007/2002 and People's Republic of China: State Control of the Internet in China: Appeal Cases, ASA 17/046/2002, both published in November 2002.

Since then, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people detained or sentenced for Internet-related offences, an increase of 60 per cent in 2003 as compared to the previous year's figures. In addition, an unknown number of people remain in detention for disseminating information about the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) over the Internet. The individuals cited in this report are all considered to be prisoners of conscience. Many have been denied due process and some have been tortured or ill-treated in custody.

Internet access has expanded considerably in China over the past year. According to official statistics, the number of Internet users had risen to 79.5 million by December 2003 from 59.1 million users in December 2002 - an increase of 34.5 per cent.(1) This has presented the authorities with greater challenges in their attempts to censor and control the online activities of Internet users. Over the past year, there has been a growing trend towards assigning greater responsibilities of surveillance and monitoring to a variety of companies in China such as Internet Cafes, Information Service Providers (ISPs) and other enterprises.

Nevertheless, it appears that Internet activism is continuing to grow in China as fast as the controls are tightened. Over the last year, there have been signs of Internet users acting increasingly in solidarity with one another, in particular by expressing support for each other online. Such expressions of solidarity have proved dangerous, as a growing number of people have been detained on the basis of such postings.

Amnesty International considers all those detained for such activities to be prisoners of conscience and reiterates its calls for their immediate and unconditional release.