China abandons blog identity plan

BBC News reports:

The Chinese government is backing down from plans to force millions of Chinese bloggers to register their real names.

There are an estimated 20 million bloggers in the country and the plans announced last year provoked huge protest from Chinese internet users.

At the time, the government said it thought the system would make bloggers more responsible for their behaviour.

But Chinese bloggers condemned the proposal as an attempt by the government to control information.

The situation in China with regards to freedom of expression is more nuanced and complex than the mainstream media would have you believe. This development seems to be a sign that the increasingly economically-focused Chinese government is beginning to recognise that information wants to flow freely in a prosperous modern society.

Staying anonymous on the web

BBC News reports on the dangers for bloggers in countries with repressive regimes exposing their identity, even pseudonymously, and offers some anonymisation tips:

The internet has given the individual unprecedented power to reach out to millions but some governments are cautious, even hostile, to giving their citizens free access to ideas they deem too democratic and dangerous.

Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia: they are all popular with holiday makers but they also censor and even lock up journalists and bloggers.

This is why the media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, has published The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.

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So what do you do if you want to escape detection from authorities who might not like your work as much as you do?

The Handbook is pretty technical but it also contains some simple tips, so you can say what you think without having to worry the censors or cyber-police too much.

Sounds like a must-read for dissident bloggers the world over. And it reminds me that freedom of speech is still a privilege.