China vs. Text Messaging

Chinese authorities are now clamping down on text messaging.

A circular issued by the Ministry of Public Security, the communist internal political police, stated that it is illegal to send short text messages that can have "massive influence."

Chinese leaders fear text messaging could be used for pro-democracy and anti-communist political activities.

The effort appears aimed at curbing mass communication through cell phones, such as occurred in recent months when large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations were triggered by widespread text messages.

It is unsurprising that the Chi-comms want to do this, but mind-boggling to imagine how they could succeed.

I find the bit about text messaging and anti-Japanese rioting interesting. The article merely says that text messaging occurred during the anti-Japanese riots and obviously wants the reader to infer causality, making me wonder whether the source for this story is the Chinese government. After all, blaming text messaging for the riots simultaneously whitewashes the Chinese government's likely encouragement of such riots and gives it a noble-sounding excuse for this latest example of censoring electronic media.

Of course, even the notion that China encouraged the rioting -- plausible in many ways -- has its own problems, given China's huge problem with civil disorder.

Whatever is going on over there, it is encouraging that (1) the government feels a need to protect itself from its own people, (2) a billion plus people is a huge number to protect one's regime from, and (3) the government doesn't seem to be doing nearly as well as it would like.

-- CAV