CCP Looking to up Internet Censorship in China

Internet censorship in China is already rife, but it’s set to worsen. During an annual government meeting, it was announced that 2014 would see a tightening of Internet censorship, including further control of the media by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Analysts all over the world have condemned the move, which is a sign of the party’s fears that the increasingly dominant role of the internet will impact public opinion enough to affect their authority. “The CCP can no longer control opinion in the Internet era. Those voices cannot be shaken,” said Hua Po, Beijing politics analyst. “The CCP is frightened by the dominating role of Internet opinion leaders…Now [the CCP is] engaging in an Internet battle which they believe they must win in order to recapture their leadership.” Xa Ming, a political science professor at the City University of New York, added, “What frightens the CCP most is losing control of the people.” However they also believe the tide to be too strong to prevent from crashing: the internet has given the Chinese people a way of finding out more about the world, and questions have already been raised about the one-party system that dominates their country. One way or another, the analysts predict, new media will evolve, no matter the level of censorship imposed.