The Washington Post
March 26, 2006

What do recent events in China tell us about the power of information technology to transform repressive societies?

So what do recent events in China tell us about the power of information technology to transform repressive societies? The Internet’s liberating potential was on display last month when the truth about a deadly school explosion spread across Chinese chat rooms, disproving official denials of responsibility and forcing Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji into a remarkable public apology. But China’s handling of the spy plane incident paints a different picture. By controlling coverage and blocking access to foreign news sites, the Chinese government ensured that its version of events was the only version most Chinese heard. Ironically, the government ended up censoring chat rooms to tone down the anti-American rhetoric its own propaganda had inspired. All we know for sure is that the new technology will make a huge difference to China’s future. It may empower ordinary people, but it may also endow authorities with a new tool to monitor private speech and manipulate public opinion. And among outsiders, the companies pioneering the information revolution in China will have a great say in deciding the outcome. To maintain their credibility as agents of change, these companies can no longer argue that their mere presence in China will guarantee openness. The private sector will have to turn to Beijing and say, in effect, “Mr. Jiang, tear down that firewall.” A few small, innovative companies, such as California-based SafeWeb, are helping by developing software that Chinese computer users can use to get around government controls. But most companies with investments in China — though they lobby the U.S. government each day against restrictions on Internet speech — have been unwilling to defend their principles directly to Beijing.