China鈥檚 biggest internet search engine Baidu has launched a self-censoring online encyclopaedia modelled on the US site, Wikipedia, which is currently blocked by Beijing.
Unlike Wikipedia, which allows anyone to create and modify entries, is censored by the company to avoid offending the Chinese government. Entries to the encyclopaedia must first pass a filtering system before being added to the site.
Baidupedia bars users from including any 鈥渕alicious evaluation of the current national system鈥�, any 鈥渁ttack on government institutions鈥�, and prevents the 鈥減romotion of a dispirited or negative view of life鈥�.
Advertisement
鈥淭he initial reaction has been very positive, so we are quite confident that we will quickly become number one in this area,鈥� Baidu鈥檚 chairman and chief executive Robin Li told The Financial Times. 鈥淚 certainly hope our encyclopaedia will be the most authoritative one for any Chinese users.鈥�
鈥楬armful鈥� content
Li admitted that Baidupedia was modelled after Wikipedia, but claimed not to know that Beijing had banned the US site. Wikipedia鈥檚 Chinese-language site was enjoying soaring popularity until the government blocked access to it late in 2005.
The Chinese authorities regularly ban international sites featuring 鈥渉armful鈥� content such as pornography and violence. But they also restrict access to websites carrying politically sensitive material and some religious content, such as information about the Falungong movement.
holds a leading share of China鈥檚 websearch market, at 37.4%. Its stock sale in August 2005 on the Nasdaq was one of the year鈥檚 hottest initial public offerings, with shares surging 354% in a single day.
US censorship
Vying for a share of China鈥檚 huge market of about 111 million internet users, western companies such as Yahoo, Microsoft and Google have all agreed to censor their content.
Google sparked controversy in January 2006 when it launched its new service for China, , that censors websites and content banned by the nation鈥檚 government.
Yahoo also came under fire in 2005 for supplying information to the Chinese government that led to the arrest of a Chinese journalist Shi Tao, who was subsequently jailed for 10 years for passing on a government censorship order via his Yahoo email account.
To control internet access the Chinese authorities are employing increasingly sophisticated filtering technology. Officials also require internet cafes to register users and internet service providers to reveal user details.
