Journalists Under Threat Around the World: China

Iran is a dangerous place to be a journalist, particularly when it comes to reporting on sensitive topics, from religion and politics to gender and society. Dozens of journalists are in prison, and many others face intimidation, harassment and threats. Media freedom in Iran is in a poor state, ranking 165 out of 180 in this year’s Reporters Sans Frontiers’ World Press Freedom Index, which assesses media freedom around the world.

But how does Iran compare to other countries, in the region and further afield?

In this series, we look at four countries where press freedom is under threat, where journalists are targeted and silenced, and the rights of ordinary citizens are undermined. 

 

 

 

REPORT ON FREEDOM OF PRESS & EXPRESSION: CHINA
Freedom in the World score, 2017 (Freedom House)	187th (out of 211 countries: "partly free")
Freedom of Information ranking, 2016 (RSF)	176th (out of 180 countries)
Journalists and bloggers prison in October 2016 (RSF)	100+
Journalists in prison in Dec 2016 (CPJ)	38 (2nd highest in world, after Turkey)
Journalists killed since 1992 (CPJ)	2 (13th highest in world)

 

China continues to be one of the world leaders for censorship, propaganda and the suppression of free speech. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has strengthened its hold over the media and civil society in recent years, and anyone failing to toe the party line is severely at risk of being harassed, detained or prosecuted.

President Xi Jinping, who assumed the CCP leadership in 2012, tolerates no dissent and has spearheaded a nationwide drive for ideological conformity, while consolidating his own power. He is currently one of 35 global leaders featured on the Reporters Sans Frontieres’ (RSF) list of “predators of press freedom”, where he has appeared since 2013. 

In court, journalists rarely receive a fair trial and must contend with an arsenal of restrictive laws designed to stifle free expression. From July 2015, a new wave of repression saw the arrest of more than 300 lawyers, journalists and activists. Harassment and intimidation of foreign journalists, as well as those who speak to the foreign press, has also increased in recent years.

Beijing’s current great obsession is the internet. China was ranked last in Freedom House’s 2016 “Freedom on the Net” survey for the second consecutive year. Over decades, the government has built up a
“Great Firewall” to oversee online material and censor tens of thousands of URLs. The Chinese social networks Weibo and QQ are closely monitored, while global websites such as the New York Times, Le Monde, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are blocked.

Internet users routinely employ homophones, neologisms and other creative tactics to subvert the censors. However, since the 2015 completion of the “Great Fire Cannon,” which could hijack traffic between IP addresses and turn unwitting users into cyber-attack tools, it has been harder to use virtual private networks (VPNs) and other circumvention tools, and internet activism has waned.

Certain sensitive topics are routinely suppressed across all media. These include activism surrounding Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, the Falun Gong spiritual group and prominent dissidents, critical coverage of the CCP and its leaders, and censorship itself. Anyone who crosses these red lines may find themselves unemployed or facing a lengthy prison term.

In December 2016, there were more than 100 journalists and bloggers in Chinese prisons, according to RSF – including 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year sentence on “subversion” charges. Abuse and torture in custody is common, and the prospect of detention acts as a powerful deterrent.

This report deals predominantly with mainland China. Hong Kong enjoys an independent media and other civil liberties, though Beijing is increasingly encroaching on these rights. 

 

Economic Climate 

China's media industry is heavily controlled by the CCP, which runs the largest broadcaster in the country: Chinese Central TV (CCTV). Overall, there are more than 3,300 TV channels, 2,000 newspapers and 2,600 state-owned radio stations in the country. All provincial stations are required to transmit CCTV news coverage, and most cities have at least one official party-run paper. The government is legally required to have a majority stake in all publications, though reforms in recent years have permitted a limited amount of commercialization. 

China is a major market for pay TV, but access to foreign news is severely restricted. Independent overseas Chinese-language news outlets are blocked, while content from international English language websites is often filtered. In order to boost Beijing's image abroad, a huge amount is spent on media targeted at international audiences. 

Popular video-streaming platforms are posing an increasing challenge to traditional TV, prompting a spate of new restrictions on online providers, as well as provincial TV channels. Controlling the internet is an immense challenge for Beijing: more internet users live in China than any other country – around 668 million – and the number is steadily growing. 

The biggest internet companies comprise Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba. Tencent's “WeChat” app is the most popular social media platform in China, claiming a staggering 889 million monthly active users in December 2016. The popularity of Alibaba/Sino's micro-blogging platform Weibo has declined in recent years, however, due to tough censorship requirements.

The government enforces an ever-growing, complex range of tools to rein in free expression. In addition to blocking individual sites, web pages and specific words and phrases, it has the capacity to enforce localized internet blackouts during periods of unrest. One shut-down was enforced for several months in 2015 in Sichuan Province, following a protest by Tibetan monks.

Most media revenue comes from advertising and subscriptions, rather than government subsidies, but political and economic pressures have prompted a renewed dependency on state funding. Even the commercially successful Southern Media Group was reportedly forced to accept millions of pounds in government subsidies in 2014. The state asserts further economic leverage over the media through business interests and payments for the removal of critical content. 

 

Legal Climate

The Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, expression and assembly, but in practice these rights are overridden by rulings of the CCP. No laws guarantee free public access to official information, and privacy protections are minimal. In court, vaguely-defined provisions in the penal code and state secrets laws give the highly politicized judiciary broad discretion to imprison anyone deemed a threat to Beijing.

In recent years, the legal climate has become increasingly repressive. Sweeping national security laws, criminal law amendments and anti-terrorism legislation have bolstered the authorities' ability to censor information, bring prosecutions and harass people with impunity. Trumped up economic charges, such as embezzlement and drugs offenses, are also used to silence journalists, alongside a recent resurgence of televised confessions.

As more citizens turn to the internet for news, the government has focused its attention on silencing online journalists and activists. More than a dozen government bodies reportedly monitor information channels, including the Central Propaganda Department, while over two million workers are responsible for reviewing internet posts using keyword searches.

In 2014, a new body was created, overseen by President Xi Jinping, with extensive powers over internet policy, censorship and cyber security. In October 2016, a regulation came into effect that allows authorities to collect and use private communications data, including texts and emails, to prosecute individuals for criminal wrongdoing.

In November 2016, a controversial cyber security law was passed that obligated internet companies operating in China to censor content, store users’ data on domestic servers and enforce a real-name registration system. In a deliberately broad provision, it also prohibited use of the internet to “harm” national interests or security.

In April 2016, a new law on foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was adopted that severely restricted their ability to operate freely. The “NGO management” legislation, which came into force on January 1, 2017, imposed strict registration requirements on the organizations and granted authority to the Ministry of Public Security to supervise and pre-approve their activities. 

Free artistic expression also suffered a blow in November 2016, with the passing of the Film Industry Promotion Law, which prohibited the production of films including content deemed to endanger national security, incite ethnic hatred or violate religious restrictions.

 

 

 

Key Events

– 2015 –

A record 49 journalists were behind bars in December 2015, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), including an unprecedented number of mainstream print journalists jailed on spurious economic charges. Access for foreign media to Xinjiang and Tibetan areas was especially restricted, and Uighur and Tibetan journalists continued to be a chief target for persecution. 

In July 2015, Beijing launched a nationwide crackdown on dissent, arresting more than 300 human rights lawyers and activists. Meanwhile, legal and political restrictions tightened on independent media outlets, while online expression was increasingly censored through the “Great Fire Cannon” and other means. Newly blocked websites in 2015 and early 2016 included the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong’s largest English-language newspaper), the Economist and Time magazine, and formerly outspoken outlets under the Nanfang Daily Group were overhauled to comply with the Guangdong propaganda department. 

 

January

• A leaked document revealed hundreds of thousands of “youth league online commentators” in universities, tasked with swaying students against supposed Western values.

• The Xinjiang government issued a regulation requiring real-name registration for Uighurs purchasing electronic devices with storage, communication, and broadcast features. 

 

March

• GitHub, a US-based international code-sharing site that hosts websites blocked in China, was hit with a massive denial-of-service attack traced to the “Great Fire Cannon.”

 

April

• Gao Yu, a prominent 71-year-old journalist, was jailed for seven years for “leaking state secrets.” In November, her sentence was reduced to five years and she was transferred to house arrest due to deteriorating health.

• The publishing permit for Moneyweek was revoked and the 21st Century Business Herald website was shut down, both of which had reported on corruption. 

 

May

 

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported “physical and psychological torture” during police interrogations, including being hung by the wrists, beaten with batons and sleep deprivation, in a review of hundreds of criminal cases. 

June

• Around 100 websites and 20,000 social media accounts were shut down during an “anti-internet blackmail and paid content removal” campaign.

• A new draft regulation proposed that all internet content providers offering video or audio broadcasting services must have staff responsible for censorship or face hefty fines.

• Journalist Liang Qinhui faced subversion charges following online criticism of the CCP, and was later jailed for 18 months.

 

August

• Authorities imposed a sweeping series of restrictions on the Southern Media Group, owner of some of the country’s most influential liberal news outlets.

• The Ministry of Culture banned 120 songs for containing content that “harms public morality.”

• Two brothers of the Radio Free Asia journalist Shohret Hoshur, who is based in the US and writes about the Uighurs, were charged with endangering state security. 

 

September

• During a military parade, an image of Winnie the Pooh was heavily censored because the image was used as a spoof of President Xi Jinping.

• RSF documented a total of 84 “‘netizens” (internet activists) in Chinese jails.

 

November

• A criminal law amendment came into effect that introduced penalties of up to seven years’ imprisonment for posting misinformation on social media.

• The People’s Daily was found to have a large percentage of inactive followers, perceived my many to be fake accounts to give the impression of popularity.

• Radio Free Asia reported that a Uighur 17-year-old jailed for life had “simply watched videos on his cellphone,” according to his father. 

 

December

• Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang was given a suspended three-year sentence following 19 months of detention for “inciting ethnic hatred” in relation to blogs on Weibo.

• Shen Hao, the popular former chairman of 21st Century Media, was jailed for four years on extortion and embezzlement charges that many believed to be fabricated.

• A controversial anti-terrorism law was passed that instructed companies to censor “extremist” content.

• Human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng stopped communicating with supporters while under house arrest. He had previously spent three years in solitary confinement and repeatedly accused the government of severe torture.

• Activist Xu Lin reported an eight-hour abduction by security agents – known colloquially as being “invited to tea” – in relation to human rights songs he had distributed online.

• French journalist Ursula Gauthier was forced to leave China following an “offensive” article about violence in Xinjiang.

 

– 2016 –

There were 38 journalists in prison in China in December 2016, according to the CPJ — the second biggest jailer in the world, after Turkey. According to RSF, the number of jailed journalists and bloggers combined was at least 100. The authorities drafted revisions of several laws to strengthen the CCP's grip on the media and assert greater control over both domestic and foreign journalists. Meanwhile, President Xi Jinping exerted heavy political pressure on state-owned and commercial media outlets to bolster censorship efforts and demonstrate absolute loyalty to the CCP. 

 

January

• Writer and activist Zhang Haitao was jailed for 19 years on subversion charges for criticising the government’s record in Xinjiang.

• Swedish national Peter Dahlin, who heads a legal funding NGO, was detained for 23 days, forced to confess on TV and deported. 

 

February

• President Xi Jinping held a series of meetings with media outlets, in which he demanded party loyalty and ideological conformity.

• Authorities shut down the micro-blogs of prominent activist Ren Zhiqiang, who has 35 million followers, after he criticized President Xi Jinping's media policy.

• Four of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing in October appeared on TV confirming they had been detained in China for “illegal book trading.” 

 

March

• The website and social media accounts of the South China Morning Post were blocked.

• At least 20 people were detained in connection with the publication of an open letter calling for President Xi Jinping's resignation.

 

April

• A plan for “comprehensive management” of all religious activity further restricted the scope for religious freedoms. 

• Human rights reporter Wang Jing was jailed for nearly five years on charges of picking quarrels.

• A new law on the management of foreign NGOs was adopted, putting unprecedented limitations on their activities.

• The Panama Papers, which contained the names of relatives of at least eight current or former Beijing leaders, were published, and swiftly purged from websites.

• Apple was instructed to withdraw its iBooks and iTunes stores, just six months after their launch in China.

• The government issued guidelines to increase law enforcement of cultural matters in a bid to safeguard “national cultural and ideological security.” 

 

June

• A prohibition against the gathering or dissemination of original news was extended to all social media applications.

• Citizen journalists Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu (above), who had been documenting China’s protests since 2012, were formally detained for “creating disturbances.” 

• Activists Lu Gengsong and Chen Shuqing were jailed for over 10 years for “subversion.”

 

July

• Authorities sacked two of Tencent’s editors after the website ran a headline seen as insulting to President Xi Jinping.

• Seven web-based news channels of Sohu, Sina, Netease and Ifeng were shut down. 

 

August

• Internet providers faced stringent new censorship requirements, including continuous monitoring of news content. Editors were also held personally responsible for content.

• The media was ordered “not to promote western lifestyles” in entertainment news.

• New regulations required all mobile applications to use real-name user registration, preventing anonymous online postings, and to store 60 days of activity.

• Activist Hu Shigen and lawyer Zhou Shifeng were jailed for seven and a half years and seven years, respectively, on subversion charges.

 

September

• Six journalists from Sichuan-based website 64 Tianwang were detained for covering protests in relation to the G20 Summit. 

November

• A cyber security law was adopted that increased penalties for media outlets that stray from the party line. It also requires companies to store user data in China and submit to potentially intrusive security reviews.

• The Cyberspace Administration issued new rules on live-streaming platforms, requiring companies to monitor user content deemed threatening to national security.

• The founder of 64 Tianwang, Huang Qi, was charged with “supplying state secrets overseas.”

 

December

• Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa was among dozens of writers and activists to join PEN International's call for an end to China’s crackdown on free expression.

 

– 2017 –

January

• A report from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) voiced serious concerns about deteriorating press freedom in Hong Kong.

• The government announced it would ban services that carry out “cross-border operations,” including VPNs, until March 2018.

• Prisoner of conscience Tashi Wangchuk was indicted on charges of “inciting separatism.”

• Li Chunfu, one of hundreds of lawyers detained during the crackdown in July 2015, gave details of the torture he'd endured, including being punched, kicked and forced to sit in a fixed position for more than 20 hours. 

 

February

• Sing Pao Media Enterprises, which owns Sing Pao newspaper, stated that staff had been severely harassed and their computer system had been attacked following critical coverage of Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. 

 

March

• The state-owned Global Times and Phoenix TV reported “confessions” by human rights lawyers Xie Yang and Jiang Tianyong, detained in 2016 on subversion charges. 

• BBC journalist John Sudworth reported that he and his TV crew were attacked, harassed and forced to sign a statement admitting they had conducted an “illegal interview” with a petitioner when attempting to report in China's central Hunan Province. 

• Activists Su Changlan and Chen Qitang were jailed for three years and four and a half years respectively on subversion charges due to their support for Hong Kong democracy protests.

• The Chongqing government announced a new rule banning unauthorized use of VPNs and other circumvention tools. Previous regulations had focused on providers, rather than users.