• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Chinese Internet Censorship

Chinese Internet Censorship

August 26, 2014
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/140826_sciup_censor.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

The Chinese government’s online policy. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

How do governments prevent the Internet from challenging their power? In the journal Science, Harvard researcher Gary King describes work in which he and his colleagues created social networking sites in China, posted a huge variety of messages, and then analyzed how the government there censored them.

GARY KING (Harvard University):

And we found that the Chinese government has no problem with criticism; you can say the most vile things about the leaders and their policies.

Hirshon:

On the other hand, if you post messages about organizing a protest or rally, they’re taken down immediately.

KING:

In fact, if you say that the leaders of this town are doing such a great job, what we should go do is have a rally in their favor, that will also be censored.

Hirshon:

In short, criticism is tolerated, but messages to organize crowds of any sort are quashed as soon as they’re detected. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

www.sciencemag.org content suppl 2014 08 20 345.6199.1251722.DC1 King.SM.pdf
An example of a censored social networking site, English translation in red. (Excerpted from King, et al., Reverse-engineering censorship in China: Randomized experimentation and participant observation, Science 22 August 2014)

 

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Social & Behavioral Sciences
Previous Post:Richard III’s Diet
Next Post:Elderly Sleep

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos