Media Guardian H/W 3

Censorship of the internet in China is becoming more draconian, according to new details of Beijing's online restrictions published by human rights organisations.The claims come in a report from international journalism watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres and the China Human Rights Defenders group, which examines the way the Chinese government reacts to free speech on the internet.Written by an anonymous author who claims to work as a technician inside a Chinese web company, the report details the expanding influence of the country's censorious approach to the internet - and its "appalling" effect on freedom of speech."The government monitors the internet by means of a skillful mix of filtering technologies, cyber-police surveillance and propaganda, in all of which China invests massively," writes the technician, referred to only as "Mr Tao". "Draconian censorship hunts down anything to do with human rights, democracy and freedom of belief. It nips free expression in the bud."According to the report, censorship of the web has grown along with the increasing power of the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau, the organisation that monitors internet content in China. Its hold over is particularly strong for companies based in or near the Chinese capital, warns the study."Either on their own initiative or on orders from above, the bureau's members remind websites of the importance of political and social stability in China as soon as a story grabs the attention of the online media or public opinion. They ask the websites to remove the story, or move it to a less prominent position, put a stop to comments and to hide or suppress any new developments in the story, or to posts an article written by the bureau."The ones that are not registered in Beijing are not subject to as much pressure. Tengxun, for example, which has China's biggest portal and the instant messaging service QQ, is based in Shenzhen and, as a result, enjoys more freedom."The report also said that the punishments meted out to those who are deemed to have transgressed Beijing's rules are becoming more drastic.China is now the world's second-largest online population, with more than 160 million web users, and pressure is building on the government to loosen its grip on the net ahead of next year's Olympic Games.But despite the controversial nature of the country's approach to the net, it is only one of a large number of countries that heavily censor online content.This week, Burma completed an almost total shutdown of communications inside the country following mass pro-democracy protests in and around the capital, Rangoon. After shutting down web access from inside Burma over the past week, the country's ruling junta also restricted access to mobile, landline and satellite phones in order to prevent images of the protests reaching the outside world.