April 20, 2013, was the 48th birthday of Gao Zhisheng (高智晟).
Gao is a Chinese army veteran and self-taught lawyer. He was named one of the 10 Best Lawyers in China by the Ministry of Justice in 2001. On December 22, 2006, Gao was convicted of subversion, and was sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence was suspended, and he was placed on probation for five years.
In February 2009, Chinese security agents took Gao for interrogation, and he was not seen again until March 2010. At that time he said that he had abandoned his criticism of the government in the hope of reuniting with his family.
On December 16, 2011, Xinhua reported that, one week before Gao Zhisheng's probation was to expire, a Beijing court withdrew his probation and sent him back to jail for another three years. Gao's probation had been due to expire in a week. See: http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-12/16/content_24176428.htm
These screenshots show that on December 16, 2011, a user searching for "Gao Zhisheng" on Baidu could find around 300 results, though only from a restricted white list of about a dozen websites operated by the central government and Communist Party. By December 18, the same search returned no results, only a notice informing users "Search results may not comply with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, and have not been displayed."
These screenshots were taken on May 1, 2013, and show that most of China's major search engines and Weibo services were returning no results for searches for "Gao Zhisheng." The only exceptions were Jike and Yahoo.cn, which were restricting results to the restricted white list.
Showing posts with label Jike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jike. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
China's Weibos Ban Kai-fu Lee, News Sites Delete Criticism of People's Daily Search Engine Boss Deng Yaping
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| Kai-fu Lee's post (top) Deng Yaping (bottom) |
On September 21, 2010, the state-sponsored China Daily published an article entitled "Champion Deng Yaping Preside Over Search Engine by People's Daily." Some excerpts:
Table tennis legend Deng Yaping will soon be adding to her rich experience by taking a further step in her political career. Deng, 37, the former world and Olympic table tennis champion, has been nominated to serve as president of Goso.cn, a news search engine launched by People's Daily in July, and as deputy secretary-general of People's Daily.On February 16, 2013, the China-based website Huxiu.com (虎嗅网) published an article entitled "Homeward Bound Musings, Why is it Deng Yaping is Being Criticized" (回乡沿途八卦:话说邓亚萍为什么被批了). Some excerpts:
So far Jike has (supposedly) spent 2 billion, and has essentially no profits, [People's Daily deputy editor] Ma Li is unwilling, and has taken Deng to task, be diligent and thrifty, stop all extravagance and waste, they are overstaffed, so a list needs to be made of 100 employees to be cut, and its said that it will be announced soon.These screenshots were taken on February 17, and show the article as it appeared on Google Preview, but that it had been deleted from Huxiu's web site. It had also been deleted from other web sites where it had been reposted:
即刻到现在花了20亿(存疑),基本没有收益,领导马利不愿意了,把小邓教训了一段,要勤俭节约,不能铺张浪费,人浮于事,于是一张百人裁员名单出炉了,据说近期就将公布。
- http://www.huxiu.com/article/10175/1.html
- http://it.sohu.com/20130217/n366207622.shtml
- http://tech.hexun.com/2013-02-17/151159384.html
On February 17, the web site of the state-sponsored China Newsweek (中国新闻周刊网) published an article entitled "Li Kaifu Calls Into Question People's Search Engine and Deng Yaping" (人民搜索和邓亚萍 李开复质疑). Some excerpts:
Recently, online talk is that Deng Yaping has been criticized. Li Kaifu has raised the following four questions on his Sina Weibo with respect to "People's Search and Deng Yaping": 1) Why is taxpayer money being used to build a search engine? 2) Is there any hope of building a search engine where there is belief in the free flow of information? 3) Why is the boss of a search engine appointed by the Party? 4) If back in the day America's Democratic Party had appointed Michael Phelps to be the CEO of Google, could Google have beaten Yahoo and become the leading search engine?These screenshots show that within hours the article had been deleted. It had also been deleted from the following web sites where it had been reposted:
近日,网传邓亚萍被批。李开复则在其个人新浪微博上,针对“人民搜索和邓亚萍”,提出了四大质疑:1)为什么要用纳税人的钱来做搜索引擎?2)做搜索引擎,却没有信息通畅开放的信念,可能有戏吗?3)一个搜索引擎公司的老总,为何由党来任命?4)如果当年美国民主党任命菲尔普斯出任谷歌CEO,谷歌能打败雅虎,成为搜索老大吗?
- http://news.inewsweek.cn/news-44939.html
- http://sh.sina.com.cn/2013-02-17/1420165894.html
- http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201302/17/t20130217_24116753.shtml
At 7:53 pm on February 17, Kai-fu Lee posted the following on Twitter:
I have been banned from speaking on Sina and Tencent for three days. Everyone can come here to find me.
我在新浪腾讯都被禁言三天,大家可以来这里找我。
These screenshots show that by 8:30 pm on February 17 Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Employee Says Deng Yaping Doesn't Get Search" (员工称邓亚萍不懂搜索) and Tencent Weibo was censoring searches for "Deng Yaping Doesn't Get Search" (邓亚萍不懂搜索).
Late in the evening of February 17, the state-sponsored Global Times published an English language article entitled "Jike Shoots Down Layoff Rumor." Some excerpts:
Despite large investments in talent over the two years since its establishment in 2011, Jike's performance has still been unquestionably bad, mainly due to improper management and unattractive product positioning, Ji Chendong, an industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan, told the Global Times Sunday.This screenshot, taken at around noon on February 18, shows that Sina Weibo did something to block all posts from between January 23 and February 17 from appearing in the results for a search for "Kai-fu Lee Banned." (李开复 被禁)
. . . .
A staff member from the Jike public relations department, speaking anonymously, told the Global Times that the company's current top priority is building up its technology, not gaining profits.
With the support of the government, it aims to release the latest food and drug safety information to the public, which will set them apart from rivals, she noted, adding that this goal is still some way off.
. . . .
Data from US research consultancy Hitwise indicated that Baidu Inc seized a 65.7 percent market share by traffic in December 2012, ranking first, while Qihoo 360 Technology Co's growing search engine came second with 8.7 percent. Jike and another State-owned search engine, Xinhua News Agency's panguso.com, did not make the list.
On the morning of February 18, Huxiu posted another article, this time entitled "Li Kaifu Gets Banned From Speaking, What Red Line Did He Step On?" (李开复遭禁言,踩到哪根红线?). These screenshots show that it was deleted within hours.
Original URL: http://www.huxiu.com/article/10244/1.html
These screenshots was taken in the afternoon of February 18, and shows that Sina Weibo was censoring "Li Kaifu Banned from Speaking" (李开复 禁言).
Sunday, December 23, 2012
How Other Websites Are Censoring Leaders' Names After the 18th Party Congress
This blog has recently posted examples of how Sina Weibo and Baidu have changed how they approach censoring search results for the names of members of the Politburo Standing Committee since the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress in November. In summary:
Qihoo Search
These screenshots show that Qihoo has been tweaking its search results for "Xi Jinping" over the last two months. During the 18th Party Congress (November 8 - 15) Qihoo was restricting search results to its strict white list. Immediately following the conclusion of the Congress, Qihoo changed to only restricting search results to its broad white list. One month later, Qihoo is once again restricting search results to its strict white list.
Sogou Search
These screenshots show that, like Baidu and Qihoo, Sogou was tweaking its censorship over the last two months, initially restricting search results to its broad white list, then blacklisting search results altogether, then finally restricting search results to the white list once again.
But these screenshots show that things aren't quite that simple. Looking at the left-hand screenshot, it would appear that search results for "Xi Jinping" plus a non-sensitive keyword (in this case, "reform") are also restricted to the broad white list. The right-hand screenshots, however, show that it is possible to get search results from web sites that are not on the broad white list if the user explicitly looks for them (in this case, by including the parameter "site:" and wsj.com).
And while all of this might lead users to think that Sogou has abandoned its strict white list, these screenshots show that Sogou is still restricting searches for "Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan" (彭丽媛 - Xi Jinping's wife) to its strict white list.
Finally, these screenshots show that Sogou continues to completely censor certain search results - in this case searches for "New York Times" and "Hu Jintao," "Wen Jiabao," "Xi Jinping," and "Li Keqiang" return no results, just a censorship notice.
Jike Search
Jike is a search engine launched by the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. As these screenshots show, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang," which on other search engines are restricted to the white list, on Jike return results from the broad white list.
But as these screenshots show, Jike will also completely censor certain search results - in these examples searches for "Xi Mingze" (习明泽 the daughter of Xi Jiping) and site:Boxun.com (a Chinese news web site based outside of China) both return no results, just a censorship notice.
Tencent Weibo
Tencent Weibo does not impose a seven day delay like its counterpart Sina Weibo. Instead, Tencent provides (apparently) real-time results, but restricts search results for leaders' names to posts made by users whose identities have been verified. These screenshots show that, while a search for "Obama" yields results from both verified (red) and non-verified (blue) users, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang" only yield results from verified users.
- Sina Weibo - http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/12/sina-weibo-enacts-new-7-day-delay.html
- Before: No results, just a censorship notice.
- After: Results are delayed for seven days (except for "Hot Posts").
- Baidu - http://blog.feichangdao.com/2012/12/baidus-new-censorship-policies-for.html
- Before: Any search containing the name of a leader was restricted to Baidu's strict white list, which is comprised of about a dozen websites controlled by the central government and the Communist Party - People's Daily, Xinhua, etc.
- After: Searches containing only the name of a leader is restricted to Baidu's strict white list. Searches containing the name of a leader and a non-sensitive term is restricted to Baidu's broad white list, which is comprised of 100+ large web sites located in China - Tencent, Sohu, Netease, Sina.com.cn (but not Sina.com).
Qihoo Search
These screenshots show that Qihoo has been tweaking its search results for "Xi Jinping" over the last two months. During the 18th Party Congress (November 8 - 15) Qihoo was restricting search results to its strict white list. Immediately following the conclusion of the Congress, Qihoo changed to only restricting search results to its broad white list. One month later, Qihoo is once again restricting search results to its strict white list.
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| Searches on Qihoo for "Xi Jinping" restricted to the China-based Sina.com.cn |
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| A search on Qihoo on December 22 for Xi Jinping restricted to the Hong Kong-based Sina.com returns no results, just a censorship notice. |
These screenshots show that, like Baidu and Qihoo, Sogou was tweaking its censorship over the last two months, initially restricting search results to its broad white list, then blacklisting search results altogether, then finally restricting search results to the white list once again.
And while all of this might lead users to think that Sogou has abandoned its strict white list, these screenshots show that Sogou is still restricting searches for "Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan" (彭丽媛 - Xi Jinping's wife) to its strict white list.
Finally, these screenshots show that Sogou continues to completely censor certain search results - in this case searches for "New York Times" and "Hu Jintao," "Wen Jiabao," "Xi Jinping," and "Li Keqiang" return no results, just a censorship notice.
Jike Search
Jike is a search engine launched by the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. As these screenshots show, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang," which on other search engines are restricted to the white list, on Jike return results from the broad white list.
But as these screenshots show, Jike will also completely censor certain search results - in these examples searches for "Xi Mingze" (习明泽 the daughter of Xi Jiping) and site:Boxun.com (a Chinese news web site based outside of China) both return no results, just a censorship notice.
Tencent Weibo
Tencent Weibo does not impose a seven day delay like its counterpart Sina Weibo. Instead, Tencent provides (apparently) real-time results, but restricts search results for leaders' names to posts made by users whose identities have been verified. These screenshots show that, while a search for "Obama" yields results from both verified (red) and non-verified (blue) users, searches for "Xi Jinping" and "Li Keqiang" only yield results from verified users.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
On Anniversary of Japanese Invasion, Baidu, Jike, and Youdao Promote China's Claims on the Diaoyu Islands
The following screenshots were taken on September 18, 2012.
On September 20, Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s director of international communications, offered this explanation:
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| Baidu's home page doodle shows an island with a PRC flag on it. Clicking on the doodle leads to a page entitled "Diaoyu Islands, China's! http://baodiao.baidu.com/ |
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| Baidu's Japan and Taiwan home pages did not have any doodles. |
On September 20, Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s director of international communications, offered this explanation:
The overwhelming majority of Baidu’s employees and users clearly feel very strongly on this topic, but our purpose was to encourage people to be rational in their expressions of patriotism, to renounce violence and other forms of extremism. Planting a digital flag to express your feelings on the matter of the Diaoyu Islands is a much better alternative to throwing rocks or smashing cars.
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| Jike's home page has a text link saying: "Safeguard the Diaoyu Islands, Take Action Now!" (保卫钓鱼岛,即刻行动!) Clicking on the link leads to a page with the same title. http://wlfx.jike.com/diaoyudao Jike is operated by the People's Daily |
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| Sogou, Soso, and Yahoo.cn did not commemorate the anniversary. |
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Search Engines Censor "National Education" and "Scholarism" (Name of Hong Kong National Education Opposition Group)
These screenshots, taken on September 8 and 9, 2012, show that searches for "National Education" (国民教育) and "Scholarism" (学民思潮) on Baidu returned no results, just a notice saying: "Search results may not comply with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, and have not been displayed. It is suggested you try other related terms." (搜索结果可能不符合相关法律法规和政策,未予显示。建议尝试其他相关词。)
As these screenshots show, many other search engines, including Jike, Qihoo, Sogou, and Youdao, were also completely censoring searches for these terms.
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| Results for "National Education" |
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| Results for "Scholarism" |
The only exceptions were:
- Qihoo (which restricted search results for "national education" to news websites and the Hudong wikipedia site)
- Yahoo.cn (which restricted searches for both terms to a white list of about a dozen websites controlled by the central government and Communist Party)
- Soso (which as of September 9 was not censoring search results for either term).
Previous posts on censorship relating to Hong Kong's national education protests:
- Hong Kongers Protest National Education, Global Times Alludes to "Tragedies" in History of Student Protests, Weibos Censor "National Education"
- Thousands March in Hong Kong Against "National Education," Sina Weibo Censors Searches for "Brainwash"
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