The Associated Press reported this morning that as of July 1st, China is requiring all domestically-sold PCs to carry new site-blocking software. “Green Dam – Youth Escort” software will block pornographic content and can also be programmed to block other sites…whatever parents deem appropriate. China already blocks political web content that challenges communism or promotes democratic reform.
In a May 19th notice to PC-makers, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that educators "should fully realize the damage that harmful online information does to the physical and mental health of primary and secondary school students." Hmmm, is this where the “youth escort” part of the name comes in? By blocking Internet content the Chinese youth will sail through their formative years unscathed?
The interesting part to me is that consumers will be able to uninstall the software if they wish. What’s the difference between this and any other parental control software? Maybe it’s because they want to require that the PCs be shipped with the Green Dam pre-installed. Action is required to remove it. Will they include instructions on how to uninstall the software? And will they keep track of who has removed it?
John Palfrey, an Internet censorship expert at Harvard University, described the latest requirements as "a potential game changer in the story of Internet control," by moving China's "Great Firewall" closer to the user, where censorship can be more effective.
Check out this photo from the official “Green Dam Youth Escort” site.
According to a Circle ID site, it depicts children sitting at their computers, being shielded by a screen labeled "Green Dam Youth Escort green web surfing filtering software," held up by arms labeled "government" and "finance." The nasty looking black blobs say "harmful website" and "harmful information."
Erika Moskall
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