The HRIC Daily Brief is a daily selection of news stories and commentary related to human rights in China, drawn from Chinese- and English-language news and online media sources that we monitor daily. In addition to headlines and source links, HRIC also provides English translation of Chinese headlines.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Information Control (信息控制)

梦鸽将向警方申请 查“秦火火谣言幕后真凶” (Authorities asked to investigate "real murder behind Qin Huohuo’s rumors")
Beijing News, August 21, 2013
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2013/08/21/279611.html

Related Twitter post
艾未未 Ai Weiwei@aiww, August 21, 2013
秦火火的言论无论如何离谱,也仅仅是属于个人传递的言论信息,并不比李白的文字夸张。人民日报,央视,新华社,环球,政权宣传系统的存在使命既(即)为蓄意伪造事实,扭曲真相,给人民洗脑。(However outrageous Qin Huohuo’s remarks are, they are just the expression and information transmitted by an individual. They are no more exaggerated than [poet] Li Bai’s words. The raison d’etre of the regime’s propaganda machine—People’s Daily, CCTV, Xinhua, Global Times—is the deliberate falsification of facts, distortion of truth, and brainwashing of the people.)
https://twitter.com/aiww/status/370113206305308672

山西百人因网络违法被查处 多人因网上造谣被拘 (Hundreds investigated for "violations" online, many criminally detained for spreading rumors)
China News Service, August 21, 2013
http://news.eastday.com/c/20130821/u1a7609020.html

王建琦:网上“寻衅滋事”罪是突破 (Crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" online is a breakthrough)
Legal Evening News, August 21, 2013
http://www.fawan.com.cn/html/2013-08/21/content_450850.htm

Beijing police detain online "rumour-mongers" in veiled warning to liberal opinion leaders
South China Morning Post, August 20, 2013
http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1298276/beijing-police-detain-online-commentators-crackdown-rumours/