Study says China's busy blogosphere no harbinger of political freedom, open speech

Buffalo (New York, US), Apr.30 (ANI): University of Buffalo communication researchers have in a study confirmed the fact that China's cyber culture is changing and growing rapidly is no harbinger of political freedom and open speech in that country.

"Discourse Behind the Forbidden Realm: Internet surveillance and its implications on China's blogosphere" was published in the most recent volume of the journal Telematics and Informatics by noted communication researcher Junhao Hong, Professor of Communication, whose current research involves the Google/China clash. His co-author is UB doctoral student Shaojung Sharon Wang.

"Some hold that advanced technology and the free flow of information make the Internet uncontrollable. But there has apparently been no diminution in Chinese government surveillance, and Internet censorship could continue to be one of the most pervasive barriers to regime change," Professor Hong said.

Hong and Wang acknowledge that "the rapidly transforming blogosphere could be a catalyst for social change and organized political discourse."

However, they add that the battle between the Chinese authoritarian government, which wants censorship and supremacy, and Internet activists seeking to overcome governmental control, will continue for the foreseeable future. (ANI)