Thursday, October 17, 2013

"China holds two bloggers as it expands crackdown on rumours"

BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in China have arrested an influential blogger and are holding a cartoonist in a widening crackdown on online "rumour-mongering", friends and a lawyer for one of them said on Thursday.

Hundreds of people have been detained since August, say Chinese media and rights groups, as the government has stepped up its campaign to banish rumours. Most have been released, but some are still being held on criminal charges.

"The use of these dictatorship tools to combat the criticism and grievances within civil society could be counterproductive," said Zhang Lifan, a historian, adding that it could fuel mistrust. "It may not be beneficial for maintaining the regime."

The Internet clampdown reveals the insecurity of the leaders of the ruling Communist Party, said Bo Zhiyue, a professor of Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore.

"They are trying to send China back all the way to the Stone Age," Bo said. "Where is the hope for political reform? Zero."

Reuters via Drudge

4 comments:

rhhardin said...

Mongers have always gotten bad press.

It means middleman.

The middleman knows where stuff is needed and where stuff is in excess, and rixes it free.

Everybody comes out ahead.

Everybody figures that they can cut out the middleman and make more profit.

That cuts out the intelligence that figures out the best way to do things.

You get a government program, dead and unkillable, instead.

Stamp out those rumors.

deborah said...

An historian and a poli-sci guy...

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Coming soon to America.

Trooper York said...

I heard they arrested one blogger for extorting $20,000 from her commenters.

She wanted the money to eat a plate of egg fu young.