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China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

thediplomat.com

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Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#21

Post by no1youknowz »

paradite wrote: post #8
neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

To create a facebook account, you need either mobile phone number or email. To have an email, you still need a mobile phone number to register for gmail (the most popular choice). To have a mobile phone number, you need your passport or ID. Yes, in some cases you can get phone numbers without passport, but then again you can also get IDs and fake passports easily in China if you want.

> To have a mobile phone number, you need your passport or ID.

Not in the UK you don't. I can order a bunch of free sims with fake names and addresses and get them. I've got about 20 from EE, gifgaff, Vodafone, NanoSim, O2, etc.

So by your logic. I can create fake facebook and email from a free SIM of a number that has no connection to me.

Every system has a weakspot. You just need to know how to exploit it.

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#22

Post by paradite »

no1youknowz wrote: post #21
paradite wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To create a facebook account, you need either mobile phone number or email. To have an email, you still need a mobile phone number to register for gmail (the most popular choice). To have a mobile phone number, you need your passport or ID. Yes, in some cases you can get phone numbers without passport, but then again you can also get IDs and fake passports easily in China if you want.

> To have a mobile phone number, you need your passport or ID. Not in the UK you don't. I can order a bunch of free sims with fake names and addresses and get them. I've got about 20 from EE, gifgaff, Vodafone, NanoSim, O2, etc. So by your logic. I can create fake facebook and email from a free SIM of a number that has no connection to me. Every system has a weakspot. You just need to know how to exploit it.

We seem to be in agreement.

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#23

Post by socratewasright »

It's not that bad I believe. With the way PR companies and political parties are using astroturfing/bots to influence public opinion, asking for identification is one way of making sure the person participating in an online discussion is real. It also safeguards against online foreign influence.

Additionally, I think anonymity tends to bring the worst in us. Perhaps it is because we feel less pressured by social norms of behavior since we are not held personally responsible for our speech as much as it would've been the case irl. While no one is truly anonymous to the state, asking people to identify themselves makes them conscious about it and I believe less likely to start using a given service under the assumption of anonymity.

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#24

Post by helloindia »

paradite wrote: post #16
josteink wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To have an email, you still need a mobile phone number to register for gmail So don't use gmail? That wasn't hard, was it?

So, you are not actively using a Google account? It is one thing to have alternatives, but to actually execute the switch to alternatives seems near impossible. Breaking away from Google is already hard, breaking away from Google + Facebook (which has your phone number on WhatsApp) seems impossible. Not to sound too personal, but I thought everyone pretty much gave in to Google already.

If one is not in android ecosystem, then they can live without a gmail account. No need to be a savvy user at all.

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#25

Post by helloindia »

ManlyBread wrote: post #10
neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

The Facebook thing is already happening to some extend, some of my friends had their account blocked because they didn't use their real name and the only way to unblock this account is to upload a scan of an ID or a passport.

M

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#26

Post by ezVoodoo »

neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

Only the Chinese government get away with this? Ever hear of the PRISM surveillance program?

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#27

Post by achamayou »

jackgavigan wrote: post #7
neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

> Imagine, Facebook asking you to upload your passport before you do a live stream. It wouldn't surprise me if a Western government (probably the UK's) considers introducing legislation to require exactly this in the not-too-distant future, most likely under the guise of preventing the spread of extremist propaganda. If they do, companies like Facebook and YouTube will face a choice between acceding to the new regula…

I would be pretty surprised. Not everyone in the UK has ID, and since the NIC scheme failure, it's less likely than ever to happen. ID isn't even required to vote at the moment...

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#28

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

> Only the Chinese government can get away with something unbelievable like these regulations

Many countries do. To watch certain youtube videos in south korea you need to provide your social security number or something like that.

Re: China's New Wave of Internet Censorship: Name Verification for Online Commenting

#29

Post by code_duck »

neya wrote: post #5

There are a dozen popular live streaming apps in China where one can simply just stream what you're doing to everyone on the site and people can just watch them for hours. You can think of it like Instagram stories or Snapchat per se. Or even Facebook live. This isn't some western media propaganda. I tried one of them very recently (I don't want to give them any undeserved marketing), they allowed me to sign up and t…

I know a lot of people who were using artist/business names as personal acct names on facebook, and were contacted and told they had to change to their legal names. In many cases, they were asked to submit a drivers license for proof, and lost access to their accounts until this was completed.
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