China's Green Dam Delay Applauded By Critics
Green Dam Youth Escort, a Web-filtering software Chinese officials said was to block pornography, violence and other harmful images and graphic content from children's computers, has come under fire after tests of the Green Dam software found that it also filters relatively benign content like Johnny Depp, Garfield, Paris Hilton and roast pork.
Critics fear that the software is designed to block political content and other controversial Web sites.
When China launched the Green Dam initiative in May, it originally said all computers sold in China must include the pre-installed Web-filtering software as of today, July 1. That mandate, however, left some computers makers like Dell, IBM and HP unable to make the deadline.
It is unclear what the new deadline for compliance with Green Dam software is, but officials in China said the mandate has been delayed to enable PC and laptop makers to catch up.
Activists and officials inside and outside of China criticized the Green Dam effort. Now, those same groups are applauding its delay, while still hoping the plan fades away.
"This was the result of combined pressure from domestic Internet users and an array of forces at home and abroad," Wen Yunchao, editor at the Chinese Web site Netease, told The Washington Post of the Green Dam delay.
Wen added that China's government might seek to resurrect the plan and again make Green Dam installation mandatory.
"But no matter what, for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to make this last-minute decision was a small victory for the forces of justice," Wen told The Washington Post.
The U.S. Government, which was also vocal against Green Dam, also considered the delay a small victory. Ed Black, president of Washington-based Computer and Communications Industry Association, said China backing down showed the U.S. still carries some weight in international affairs.
"This shows that when U.S. trade officials get involved, they get results," Black told The Washington Post in an emailed statement, later adding "Internet censorship is a widespread problem, and for too long, companies have been left on their own to negotiate with other countries."