"An extraordinary coalition of global literary figures including the Nobel literature laureates JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Wole Soyinka, Tomas Tranströmer and Mario Vargas Llosa have come together to call on China to respect its population's right to freedom of expression, and to release those writers 'unjustly imprisoned for exercising this most fundamental right.'
'We cannot ... listen to China's great and emerging creative voices without hearing the silence of those whose voices are forcibly restrained,' they write."
— Alison Flood, The Guardian
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"Like in America, Chinese citizens can post their thoughts to the internet and communicate with other citizens. But unlike in America, anything that gets too political will be taken down by the hosting company. Through various cyber laws and regulations it is these internet companies – like Baidu and Alibaba – that carry out the government’s censorship of the internet.
If these companies don’t follow the weekly guidance on what content must be taken down, their licenses to run an internet company could be revoked, putting them out of business. Thus, under Chinese law, the government outsources its censorship: it issues directives but the internet companies are the ones that are liable if specific content makes it through.
Those companies who do their job well don’t just stay in business, but are rewarded for their vigilant censorship. Every year, the Chinese government awards those internet companies who did the best job censoring a 'Self Discipline Award.'”
— Elizabeth M. Lynch, China Law & Policy
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