Consent of the Networked Review

After a long wait brought about by coursework texts, I finally finished Consent of the Networked by Rebecca MacKinnon yesterday (and recommended it to others). MacKinnon opened my eyes to many of the issues surrounding the internet and the numerous organizations trying to keep the net free for everyone. Many issues were raised by MacKinnon questioning the very current debate over identity-verification vs. anonymity, who controls the internet, and how can the internet be strengthened to ensure everyone, regardless of location or what governmental regime one may live under, has a right to a secure and safe internet. After reading this book I have a better grasp on the issues surrounding the internet, many of which complement the Human Flesh Search Engine debates over anonymity and the Chinese government's right (or non-right) to censor political discussion online.

A theme that ran throughout MacKinnon's book was the hypocrisy among western governments and companies between having a free internet while working to build and sell the digital shackles overseas. The book opens citing Apple's 1984 advertisement which claimed that the introduction of the Macintosh computer would not be like Orwell's 1984 - as Apple repeated again when it updated the advert in 2004 featuring it's iPod product (p. 3). However, in China Apple consents to the Chinese government's demand and it's app store censors its apps related to the Dali Lama and Uighur exiles. MacKinnon harks back to Apple's visionary 1984 ad by saying "fifteen years later, Apple seems quite willing to accommodate Big Brother's demands for the sake of market access" (p. 115).

Furthermore, while the US State Department works to fuel research and pumps funding into technologies to enable internet access around government "kill switches" and mobile blackouts during times of political unrest overseas, MacKinnon points out throughout the book that many US-based companies provide the technologies that countries such as Iran and China utilize to fuel their censors and firewalls. MacKinnon also notes protesters in countries who were met with tear gas only to later find "made in the US" labels on the empty canisters (p. 195).

One of the issues discussed deeply throughout the book was one's right to free speech and open access to one's content on the internet (p. 128). Should service providers or governments have the right and ability to remove content? While MacKinnon argued that the right should not be held by the companies or governments that at present hold control over the internet domain, as this greatly impacts social groups and activists working to enact change especially in repressive regimes. I disagree - I believe that certain websites and mobile apps should be taken down when they target specific groups or harm society at large. Recall a recent controversy in which an app was released (perhaps last summer?) titled along the lines of "how to tell if your son is gay." The app was deemed terribly offensive and taken offline. This also brings up the issue of kids who use these apps or view web content and cannot form their own opinions on what they view. Regardless of age warnings or restrictions, children view and are aware of this content.

Furthermore, while I agree that everyone should have the right to free speech on the internet, at present the boundaries of free speech, at least in America, are being pushed on a daily basis. In my opinion, freedom of speech in America has turned our nation into a land of slinging insults and legal bigotry, a political election environment that runs on finger pointing, and produced a media base that values nothing. Therefore I question is the internet should be the open space that we should be aspiring to make it. If that comes about, any Joe Schmo can post hate speech and hurt our social ideals while hiding behind the First Amendment.

Regardless, the internet is becoming globalized and as MacKinnon made evident, how can we make changes to the internet that appease everyone (and all governments/institutions too for that matter) (p. 146). Facebook, she writes, is working to break down barriers among people and Zuckerberg believes that one should know all the little details about the people surrounding them in their life. His aim is to make Facebook profile information and contacts less private. However MacKinnon notes that websites such as Google Plus and Facebook have changed their terms of service only to be met with extreme outrage from people across the globe who are affected by this demolition of privacy. A large rift is building between first world citizens who stalk co-workers and classmates on Facebook, from political activists using Facebook and Twitter to stage protests and call for change who need anonymity to remain out of the clutches of the regimes they aim to change. Therefore, Facebook's beliefs fuel how it can be used by others, but due to its choke-hold as being the foremost social media website, it is a much needed tool across the globe (p. 152).

And to tie this book back to the contents of this blog, MacKinnon alludes back to the Anti-CNN blog of 2008 in China and how Chinese netizens can actually work in favor of the Communist Party. As seen with the Human Flesh Search Engine, Chinese patriotism and nationalism can fuel participation on the internet and it becomes evident that their work is actually strengthening the Communist Party's rule. As pointed out in my research, with many injustices facing the Chinese people such as restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly, and rampant attacks on the environment by government-run corporations, netizens seek instead to oust low-level officials and seemingly anonymous individuals who they feel "embarrass" China. Why not bring the attack to Big Brother?

All in all, MacKinnon's book was what I'd hoped it to be: informative in documenting the various efforts to keep the internet open and the implications of having government control content online in this environment of internet empowerment and the translation of internet activism to the streets.

The Fat Years

Concluded reading The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung, an amazing work of fiction that eerily alludes to modern China and the nation's "harmonious" growth. Part mystery novel, part history lesson, part inner-look into a dystopian few-years-into-the-future China, Koonchung's novel is banned in mainland China and after reading the book it's not surprising. The plot focuses on a collective amnesia that has gripped China (set in 2013 after the fall of the US economy and China's "Golden Rise of Ascendancy") and a set of characters aiming to uncover 28 days that have gone missing from the public memory. The novel asks the question, based on the literary works of Lu Xun, plaguing the protagonist (Lao Chen): is it better to live in a good hell or a counterfeit paradise?

One of the novel's main characters, Little Xi, is a middle-aged Chinese woman who spends her time as an online activist, arguing via web forums and hiding behind anonymous user names throughout the novel. Whether Koonchung meant it or not, Little Xi turned out to be a great portrayal of the issues over anonymity on the web that are hitting China today, and how anonymity is one of the main means for Chinese to protest and speak out while living in the mainland. On page 178 Little Xi argues this point when she makes the claim that "the Internet is the people's Central Discipline Committee and virtual Public Security authorities."

"...The power of Western governments is given to them by the people, while in China the people's freedom is given to them by the government. Is this distinction really that important?" (146) The novel brought out many issues and had one liners that really forced the reader to contemplate China's future and stability. A theme that permeates the novel is whether or not Chinese should continue to remember the struggles of the past in the effort to move forward. The protagonist Lao Chen continually brings China's past political struggles to the reader's attention, particularly the Cultural Revolution and the Democracy Movement and economic openness of the decade following. One line in the book attributes these major events in China's political system to the changing personalities of its citizenry: "...he says that China's mentality transforms itself every few years" (122). The character who spoke this refers also to the return of Hong Kong (1997), SARS (2003), the Olympics (2008), among others.

The theme of increased freedoms (or lack thereof) brought to the reader's attention from this novel nicely compliments the editorial released yesterday by Ai Weiwei.

Search Engine hosted by Jesse Brown

This morning I discovered and listened to TVO's Search Engine hosted by Jesse Brown's podcast for "The Human Flesh Search Engine," the podcast's seventh episode. Examined are the implications of the Human Flesh Search Engine in mainland China.

The podcast discusses how many of these cases are small social victories that aim at local governments rather than the larger central government, and how the central government accepts and evens welcome this type of behavior. Interviewed is the producer of Invisible Killer (read below), who does not feel the internet represents the majority. However, the host, Jennifer Pak, continues to argue that in a governmental system were people feel injustices are covered up, the HFSE acts as the "imperfect solution in an imperfect system."

One story which was mentioned was Beijing's movement to install spyware and blocking technology in all new computers sold in China, and the angered response of netizens. The spyware aimed to block all pornographic content and websites with sensitive issues against the government. China's state media ran a news expose about how easy it is to search using Google and have porn pop up. They interviewed one college student who claimed his friend lapsed into a porn fixation due to images he came across while doing an internet search. Netizens felt the interview was a little too perfect and investigated, finding that the boy was actually an intern at the news station that interviewed him. His name and contact information were all posted online, including the information of his girlfriend. This was an instance that I had not heard of!

The podcast did refer me to a recent film that was produced in China called Invisible Killer. Invisible Killer (无形杀 - 2009) is a film about two people who meet and fall in love through the online game World of Warcraft. The woman has an affair and her partner, knowing only this other man's World of Warcraft username, attacks the other man online with the help of netizens. I'm now on the (online) hunt to find this film (with subtitles)!

Daedalum Films Presents (Part II)

After obtaining the password for the second part of Daedalum Films' documentary "Human Flesh Search Engine," I eagerly went to view the remaining part of the film and am here with a review.

The second part of the documentary was titled "Context" and sought to explain how the internet is used in China, and why this phenomena can grow and thrive in China's cultural setting. Once again narrated by Luis A. Tapia, the film also took comments from four online personalities, including one man who has taken part in these online scavenger hunts.

It began by explaining the backbone of the search engine: forum websites (or BBSs). These websites allow users to register under an anonymous online handle and can access the forums. Forums are available to post questions, images, and allows users to comment on the posts of others. The film explains that the forums grant users the ability to meet other like-minded people, and that many use the forums to gain fame for their online handle through their quick wit and expression.

What the documentary stresses is how these forums provide a means for netizens to express themselves and be heard - something that is not always possible offline. The search engine thus provides an internet democracy, where there is often a "need to make noise to make leaders notice." I loved how the film brought up the internet demographics in China, the largest web population of any nation in the world, which is made up primarily of young adults born in the 1980s or later.

But why China? Tapia's interviewees explain that there is a strong tie to the old Confucian ideal of righteousness that is evident throughout the Human Flesh Search Engine. The Confucian ideal stresses that if one sees something that's unjust, one needs to "right the wrong" in order to be deemed a noble man. To ignore it is wrong.

Lastly the film compared similarities between the search engine and the Cultural Revolution, but went on to stress that while similarities exist, these two events are still very far apart, and that the actions of the past do not appear to be resurfacing in the present. I felt this was a strong argument that I completely agree with.

I felt this was an amazing documentary that was both well-made and informative, that brought to life many of the cases and sentiments that will be discussed and posted on this research blog.

Daedalum Films Presents

"Human Flesh Search Engine" is a short documentary film by Daedalum Films that seeks to find out "what [the Human Flesh Search Engine] can it tell us about modern China." Directed, produced, and narrated by Luis A. Tapia, the documentary does an amazing job of bringing the Human Flesh Search Engine to life, delving deep into its origins and bringing faces to many of the online investigations that have both enacted justice and brought down the lives on those targeted. The film is cinematically beautiful and directs the viewer's full attention from start to finish.

The documentary begins with Part I: Origins and Cases which introduces the phenomena and the origin of it's name. Tapia explains that the direct translation of the name "Human Flesh" is most notably used in all instances of this "online scavenger hunt" being displayed notoriously in western media. Yet he questions if this literal translation is appropriate - when in fact the term "human-powered search engine" might better serve. Throughout the film Tapia's knowledge of Chinese culture and command of the language are apparent.

The film gives a strong background on how the term was coined and became popularly used in China from it's beginnings with MOP.com and the "human-powered" search engine's spread throughout other forum-based websites. As the film delves into some of the most notorious cases in recent years, Tapia uses a wealth of knowledge for each instance, citing websites where the search engine began, and including photos and video footage when available. The documentary continues to showcase the galvanizing effects the stories have on netizens, and how those netizens have worked to uncover the identity and location of those at fault, mentioning how the search engine's mob mentality can ruin the lives of those targeted, but also bring about justice to others.

What I really appreciated was how Tapia mentioned the positive aspects of the phenomena; that the human-powered searches are not solely used to uncover the identities of those who commit wrongs to society. As mentioned in my thesis, the documentary explains how the search engine masses can work to locate missing people, as seen in the aftermath of the Sichuan Earthquake or through the website Ren Rou Wang.

My review of the second part should be coming shortly - at present a password is required to view it on Daedalum's website, which I've inquired about how to obtain.

China's Cyberposse

I came across this article entitled "China's Cyberposse" that was published in early 2010 right after I completed my research thesis. Published by the New York Times, the article provides an overview to western audiences about the backbone of the Human Flesh Search Engine. While the article was published by the New York Times, however I was unable to gain access to the full article but found it copy and pasted onto this Chinese web forum. What surprised me about the article is that it both my thesis and the article open in very similar fashions with the case of Wang Jue: the Kitten Killer of Hangzhou. Furthermore, the article utilizes similar sources to the ones I analyzed and mentioned the same cases.

What I disliked about the article was that the author made a clear line drawn between western and Chinese internet - that this sort of phenomena would not happen in the west. I beg to differ, I believe that while the social aspects and historical perspectives make it a uniquely Chinese occurrence, I believe the sheer number of Chinese internet users is what powers the investigative work that makes the Human Flesh Search Engine so powerful, a topic I discuss at length in my thesis.

And let's not forget that viral web investigation is not absent from the western internet. However, more often than not the power of the internet is used to bring about moderate fame or overexposure. Take for example the popularity of video bloggers on YouTube, many of whom reach thousands of views a day and are able to share their views and social commentaries on the internet. While the exposure element remains similar to the Chinese internet, western internet is missing the community investigation and collective moral righteousness found through the Human Flesh Search Engine.

I was just a little surprised that as I read this article it began to sound as though it could be a succinct version of my paper. I'm in no way saying that anything of mine was used, just simply pointing out that I believe when beginning to research the Human Flesh Search Engine, certain cases of the investigative work point researchers onto similar paths. And certain cases also draw more attention, especially in western media, than others.

However, the article did point to a Chinese author who is has written a book titled Human Flesh Search which has been released in China. It's times like this when I wish that I spent more time on my Chinese learning over the years, although my reading ability has always been a bit weak due to my inability to devote much time to the study of grammar. And I don't foresee this being translated into English any time soon...

Tomorrow expect a post reviewing the Human Flesh Search Engine as portrayed in film and television. One post will be dedicated to the recent Law and Order episode devoted to and similarly titled "Human Flesh Search Engine." The other will be a review of "Human Flesh Search Engine," a short film by Daedalum Films which explores the phenomena and asks the question: "what can it tell us about modern China?" I'm excited to view both of these and will provide necessary links and reference information in their respective posts.