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Commentary – The ‘Legalization’ of China’s Internet Crackdown

Stanley Lubman – “Internet usage – especially microblogging on Sina Weibo, China’s largest Twitter-like social media site – is presenting new challenges and new attempts to meet them from a government determined to maintain control.  In recent months Beijing has launched a multi-pronged offensive against online criticism of current policies and institutions that includes a propaganda campaign, arrests and a duplicative new legal rule that attempts to justify the response and deter future online critiques. This call to battle is not new, but its codification in legal dress is disturbing and represents a magnified threat to online discussion and dissent in China.”

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