Media Release: China
August 2, 2013
The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned that 107
websites have been forced to shut down by the State Internet Information Office
of China. The closures have occurred since a crackdown was launched by the
newly formed department General
Administration of Press and Publication, Broadcasting, Film and Television on
May 9.
The New
Beijing Newspaper, which is under the direction of the Beijing Provincial
Propaganda Department, reported that the 107 websites include many news-related
media outlets. According to the newspaper, they were forced to shut down on the
grounds that they allegedly had no permits or were blackmailing companies or
individuals by threatening to publish negative information about them. However,
the sites include news websites such as Dwnews.com, which is a popular news
portal providing a diversified source of information for the territory.
Chinaxwcb.com,
which is under the direction of the General Administration of Press and
Publication, Broadcasting, Film and Television (GAPPBFT), reported on April 16 that
the GAPPBFT issued a notice to all online media saying that all personnel must
maintain positive promotion as their guiding principle when operating online
portals. The personnel are required to follow the practice of traditional
media, blogs and microblogs and to take up the role of guiding public opinion, and
to voluntarily refuse to disseminate harmful or unauthorised information.
The IFJ Asia
Pacific Office said: “Such a decision, without any evidence to prove the claim,
illustrates that China is escalating its efforts to control information. It is
clearly a backlash occurring
while the new leadership is in its early days.
“Plurality
is the key to a democratic society, reflecting the authorities’ respect for
people’s rights to receive and impart information.The media must report cases of great
public concern and not distinguish between good and bad news. Only authorities that do not
understand the duties of the media will force the media to become propaganda
outlets.”
We urge the Chinese
authorities to adopt international standards and the principle of press freedom,
and to lift all restrictions and allow all media outlets to operate
independently.
We also urge
the GAPPBFT to withdraw the notice and the State Internet Information Office of
China to provide more evidence to support its claim that the online media outlets
affected by the crackdown are “illegal”, so that the media outlets may resume exercising
their rights.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131
countries
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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