China backs down on censorship software

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 16 Jun 2009 at 13:43

China has withdrawn its demands for all new computers to have censorship software pre-installed, according to an official state newspaper.

Earlier this month the country issued a mandate that called for "Green Dam-Youth Escort" to be installed on each computer sold in the country. The software would block access to sites that the state deemed harmful, including pornography and certain political sites.

China claimed that the measure was intended to, "construct a green, healthy, and harmonious internet environment, preventing harmful information on the internet from influencing and poisoning young people."

Computer manufacturers had been gearing up to comply with the rule, although it prompted concerns from many anti-censorship groups.

Now the country claims that use of the software will be voluntary, and that the state will supply it free of charge to anybody that wants to use it.

"PC makers are only required to save the set-up files of the program in the hard drives of the computers, or provide CD-ROMs containing the program with their PC packages," said China Daily, the state-run newspaper.

The software had been produced by Jinhui, a software development firm that also has links to the Chinese military.

It will be mandatory for computer manufacturers to supply the installation files for the software with each new computer, as of July 1.

Even without mandatory use of the software, internet access in China remains heavily censored. Searching for the Tiananmen Square massacre returns no results, and both the BBC and YouTube are blocked entirely.