The Golden Shield Project That Made Microsoft Subject To Censorship Rules In China In History Today, June 15, 2005

JAKARTA - On June 15, 2005, users of Microsoft's new portal in China were banned from using the words democracy, freedom and human rights. This was an obvious move by the US software giant at the time to pacify China.

Other words that can't be used on Microsoft's free blogging service, MSN Spaces, are 'Taiwan independence' and 'demonstration.' This censorship is a result of the implementation of the Golden Shield Project, the first project of Great Firewell.

The Golden Shield Project is a fundamental construction project of China's national network security by the e-government of the People's Republic of China. The project is based on a favorite line of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as supreme leader of the People's Republic of China from December 1978 to November 1989.

In the early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping said, "If you open the window for fresh air, you also encounter some flies that enter."

This project includes, among others, a security management information system, a criminal information system, an entry and exit administration information system, a supervisory information system, a traffic management information system, and others. Massive surveillance and censorship on the internet was carried out.

Hardware is provided by most United States (US) companies, including Cisco Systems. This project was completed in 2006, but was continued by subsequent projects, which in essence were foreign restrictions and matters deemed dangerous to the Chinese Government.

In other words, the project doesn't just enforce censorship. The project also affects the development of China's internal internet economy by nurturing domestic companies and reducing the effectiveness of the products of foreign internet companies.

Blog or internet users who enter prohibited words or politically or pornographic content will get a message that reads: This item must not contain forbidden words such as profanity. Please enter another word.

Even the most basic political discussions are difficult because words like communism, socialism, and capitalism are blocked in this way. Yes, although these words can be used in the main body of the text.

Other taboo words that were blocked were Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, Tiananmen, terrorism and massacres. Although the word "demonstration" is taboo, "protest" is fine. "Democracy" is prohibited, but "anarchy" and "revolution" are acceptable.

On MSN Space, Chinese bloggers cannot use the president's own name, but can comment on Tony Blair. A Microsoft spokesperson said the restrictions were the price the company had to pay to spread the positive benefits of blogs and online messages.

"Even with filters, we help millions of people communicate, share stories, share photos and build relationships. For us, that's the key point here," said Adam Sohn, director of global sales and marketing at MSN.

Citing The Guardian, the Chinese government at that time also employed about 30 thousand internet police. The restrictions are an extension of the old policy to control the web so that it can be used by businesses but not by political opponents.

Meanwhile, to Microsoft, this appears to be a concession to authoritarianism on the internet. The censorship comes just months after Microsoft boss Bill Gates praised China's leaders, which has a mixed market economy with rigid political controls.

"This is a new form of capitalism, and as a consumer it is the best thing that has ever happened," he said.

At that time Microsoft along with many internet giants were trying to break into China's rapidly growing internet market, which was estimated to reach 100 million users in 2005. Only the United States (US) had more people using the internet at that time.

But Gates admits his company underperformed in China in 2005. Microsoft is not alone in accepting censorship requests from China. Free speech group Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo had a similar policy.

In 2008 ahead of the Beijing Olympics, China unblocked websites such as Wikipedia, Blogger, and YouTube. Yet thousands of other sites remain inaccessible.

In the same year China introduced a law that said anyone using an internet cafe had to be photographed and show identification before going online.

The Chinese government then again blocked access to YouTube in 2009 for showing videos of soldiers beating monks and people in Tibet. On the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, social media such as Twitter and Flickr were blocked to stop people discussing or viewing footage of the 1989 events. China has also blocked searches for the keyword "Urumqi", a city in Xinjiang that is experiencing unrest.

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