Wukan

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A villager stands near ballot writing booths at a school playground in Wukan village in Guangdong province Friday, one day before the election of a seven-member village committee. (Reuters/Bobby Yip)

On board the election bus in China’s Wukan

Village elections taking place this weekend in southern Guangdong province’s Wukan illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of China’s media control. Censorship measures have not prevented strong domestic and international coverage of the democratic process. But has official tolerance of dissenting views increased since leaders cracked down on the attempted Jasmine revolution last year? Or is…

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Tibetan monks lead a prayer vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in London Wednesday. (AFP/Justin Tallis)

In high-tech China, low-tech media control works too

China’s investment in high-tech Internet surveillance technology is well known, and the byzantine rules of its Central Propaganda Department have inspired books and academic treatises. But among the many tools in the box for media control, there’s one that’s very simple and low-tech: Keep journalists away.

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In China, real people vs. Internet minders

In the next three months, users of China’s microblog weibo.com — “weibo” is the generic Chinese term for Twitter-like platforms — run by the huge sina.com (the English site is here) news portal, entertainment and blogging site, will have to start providing their real-world identities to the site, instead of simply being able to register.…

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