14 DAY TRIAL // Like I reported earlier, censorship is so present in China before the Olympic Games, almost like it was running for gold. Now, it hits everywhere that has something, even remotely, to do with more people than, say, one. The forums are starting to feel the cold, chilly breath of censors down their threads, and even universities' students will not be allowed to proliferate injurious sentences at one another. Not that it's the best attitude to have towards your fellow colleague, but still, it's nice to blow off some Steam from time to time and just curse somebody who's done you wrong.
China Daily reports that the Peking University's president, Mr. Xu Zhihong, is deadright set on modifying the rules, to make his students abide by the laws of Internet cleanliness and decorum that have been set before him. A closer look at what is considered as being a swear is all too enlightening as to the extent of the censorship to be applied: anything that has the word combination "free Tibet" or "independent Taiwan," or even the slightest slip from the one-and-only right doctrine that the government upholds will be removed.
It has already started with a bulletin board that was hung on a wall in the university's campus being removed. Up next - forums and gossip, regardless of its object, apparently. Talk about trying to create a working army that lives, breathes and dreams of communism! Basically, everything except academic talks or sports results will not be tolerated online. The sex scandals that have been popping up like mushrooms after a May rain did not help at all, and now students will suffer for being entertainment-hungry.
Truth be told, the movement against swearing and similar activities on the Internet is catching speed at a global level, with the US Supreme Court having agreed to review the Federal Communications Commission's policies for the first time in 30 years.