Aug262007
Muzi Mei – Chinese blogging pioneer
Filed under A-List Bloggers by BlogKing at 1:06 am on Aug 26 2007
Here is a interesting recent interview with the famous young Chinese woman, Muzi Mei, who blogged about her rampant sex life in 2003 and quickly became a media sensation and thus singlehandly got millions of Chinese into blogging. Not to be left behind Muzi Mei in 2005 started podcasting her encounters.
More than 30,000 Chinese “cyber police” surf the internet every day and have blocked thousands of sites that are deemed offensive or critical of the authorities. In addition, hundreds of officials go “underground” to take part in online discussions with the aim of subtly steering debates in support of the authorities.
The dilemma for the Chinese government is that while the internet is needed to fuel economic growth, the uncontrolled flow of information it brings could undermine one-party rule and the leadership’s conservative approach.
According to the Chinese Human Rights Watch libertarian group, more than 60 Chinese are serving prison sentences for views expressed over the internet. “It is Big Brother at its worst, and out of step with the direction of the rest of the world in the 21st century,” a spokesman said.
Michael Anti, a Beijing-based political and social commentator, said most bloggers and podcasters in China were frustrated journalists.
“As there is no freedom of the press in China, journalists have no space to express their real opinions in the traditional media,” he said. “The internet is tightly controlled and censored, too, but in that space there is always a way to get around the controls.”
For now, Muzimei is among those managing to sidestep those controls. “I cannot go too far,” she said. “If my work was stopped that would be bad for me, bad for the development of the internet and free expression, and bad for China.”
