Sunday, June 27, 2010

Chinese Soldiers Are Banned From Blogging

Soldiers of the PLA, the world's largest standing army, are banned from creating homepages, web sites or blogging. Photo from AFP

China Bans 2.3m PLA Soldiers From Blogging -- BBC

China has banned its 2.3 million soldiers from internet blogging, state media report.

A new regulation prohibits the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from creating websites or blogs, citing confidentiality concerns, the official Xinhua news agency says.

China operates vast internet censorship, dubbed the "great firewall of China".

Websites deemed sensitive by the government are routinely blocked.

"Soldiers cannot open blogs on the internet no matter (whether) he or she does it in the capacity of a soldier or not," Xinhua quoted Wan Long, a political commissar of the PLA, as saying.

"The internet is complicated and we should guard against online traps".

Read more ....

My Comment:
I am sure that they are citing security concerns for the ban, but the real reason is that they are sensitive to criticism and the realization that some senior commanders and officials do not want to be in a position to lose face .... a likely prospect with how quickly the internet can spread bad news.

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