USI Chinese Internet regulation: an Historical overview of the most relevant Chinese Departments and Ministries Gianluigi Negro (Ph.D. Candidate at Università della Svizzera Italiana) Chinese Media Legilstation and Regulation: Trends, Issues and Questions Comparative Media Law & Policy June 2012, PCMLP, Oxford

USI Internet in China, some stats Three phases Present stage

USI Source: CNNIC

USI Source: Economist April 2012, BCG Prof. Qian Tianbai sending China’s first September 20, 1987

USI Source: Beijing Association of online media (August 2010) “Informatization is the foundation for China’s economic modernization; information resources is one of the most basic and important inputs for modern economic development; information industry should become the fundamental sector of China’s economy”. Zheng Youjin, former director of the Center for Information Infrastructure (1997)

USI Mass incidents phenomenon From 8,709 (1993) To (2005) 1.It should involve a certain number of people according to our laws and regulations 2.their actions are not specifically allowed by law, and some are even prohibited 3.people who creates these incidents may not have the same purpose but behave in the same way 4.these incidents have some impact on civil order

USI Before 1994 Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (MPT) Ministry of Eletronic Industry (MEI) Ministry of Broadcast, Film and TV (MBFT)

USI Before 1994 Tan (1999)

USI Tan (1999)

USI Present stage Tan (1999)

USI «Coordinated competition»? Mobile TVInternet Chiao (2012) Internet mobile VoIP Mobile TV Convergence IPTV

USI Mobile TV Internet Not yet

USI An unbalanced development In 1994 the Internet becomes commercially viable as China opens up to the global Internet : the state’s news and information monopoly and the Communist Party’s ideological agenda are threatened by online journalism – which is reined in – but expansion of media space continues apace chat rooms, bulletin board systems (BBSs) and blogs shape alternative channels of communication – they are reined in – but the limits grow increasingly elastic : amidst a general media crackdown, blogs text messages and social media applications mobilize opinion and affect policy – attempts to rein them in have been ongoing particularly since with bloggers becoming more cautious as government plans for a real name registration system for bloggers. Lagerkvist (2012)

USI Management Increasing revenues Vs. Officialdom Private sectorCivil Society Rule by lawRule of law

USI Thanks Q&A For contacts