The Search for Freedom – What is this, and how does it make a difference?
Amnesty International Australia's Search for Freedom provides a quick and easy way to participate in the Uncensor campaign.
All you need to do is:-
Select a search term from the drop down menu on the right side of this page.
Click "Go". This will send your chosen search words to a search engine in China. That's it!
You can experience internet censorship yourself by viewing the search results. The results vary but would typically include a blank screen, or a "server busy" message. Some searches produce results but exclude anything relevant to your search term. Try searching for SARS in the Search for Freedom for an example of this.
How does this make a difference?
Internet censorship in China takes place in many different ways. Major search companies like Yahoo! and Google, Baidu and Alibaba comply with Chinese Government regulations and block search terms and results, and at the same time, they gather information about search terms in their server logs.
Every time you use a search engine, the words you searched for are recorded in a server log. This provides search engine companies with valuable statistical information that they use to sell advertising space to their clients. Analysing these logs is part of the core business model of these companies. Our idea is to take Amnesty’s message to the place where it will receive most attention from the search engine companies – the server logs themselves. By inviting users to search for censored topics on search engines in China, we can flood the server logs with terms related to human rights and democracy.
There’s also a chance that we might create enough confusion to shield Chinese citizens from scrutiny when they search for these terms.
Read more about Internet Censorship in China at these websites:-
Net censorship: the basics by Antony Loewenstein. Published on this website on 29/3/2008.
Wikipedia, Internet Censorship in The People's Republic of China
The Atlantic.com, The Connection Has Been Reset
Welcome to Uncensor, a place where you can take action against Chinese Internet Censorship …more about this campaign
Meet “Nu Wa”, the Uncensor mascot.
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Got a spare minute, hour or day?
If you have 30 seconds, 2 minutes or a day spare - no matter how little or how much time you have - you can get involved with our campaign to end internet repression in China. Check out some of the ways you can get involved and take action to stand up for human rights in China.
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