Internet Censorship in The People's Republic of China - Enforcement

Enforcement

In December 1997, Public Security minister Zhu Entao released new regulations to be enforced by the ministry that inflict fines for "defaming government agencies," "splitting the nation," and leaking "state secrets." Violators could face a fine up to 15,000 Yuan ($1800). Banning appears mostly coordinated and ad hoc, with some sites blocked, yet similar sites allowed or even blocked in one city and allowed in another. The blocks have often been lifted for special occasions. For example, The New York Times was unblocked when reporters in a private interview with Jiang Zemin specifically asked about the block and he replied that he would look into the matter. During the APEC summit in Shanghai during 2001, normally blocked media sources such as CNN, NBC, and the Washington Post became accessible. Since 2001, the content controls have been further relaxed on a permanent basis, and all three of the sites previously mentioned are now accessible from mainland China. However, access to the New York Times was briefly re-blocked as of 20 December 2008, although it has been accessible for the first months of 2009 as of 17 May.

In the summer of 2005, the PRC purchased over 200 routers from an American company, Cisco Systems, that allowed the PRC government a more advanced technological censoring ability. In February 2006, Google made a significant concession to the Great Firewall of China, in exchange for equipment installation on Chinese soil, by blocking websites which the Chinese government deemed illegal.

In May 2011 the State Council Information Office announced transfer of its offices which regulated the Internet to a new subordinate agency, the State Internet Information Office which would be responsible for regulating the Internet in the People's Republic of China. The relationship of the new agency to other agencies in the PRC which regulate the Internet was unclear from the announcement.