A top Beijing official said yesterday that a controversial Internet filter software was optional for all users after plans to install it on computers sold in China triggered a storm of protest.
“After you install the software, you can use it or you can decide not to use it,” Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong (李毅中) said.
“When you buy a computer, a floppy disk or CD [with the software] is given out, and the right to choose resides with the parent, with society,” he told reporters in Beijing.
News in June that all computer makers had been ordered to install the software caused an outcry in China and abroad, with critics accusing the government of trying to increase controls online.
Beijing consistently countered that the filter was designed to shelter youngsters from pornography and violence and to give parents control over what their children view online.
But China abruptly postponed the plan on the eve of July 1, when it had planned to implement the rule.
Li said China would not force all computer makers to pre-install the software — called Green Dam Youth Escort — on the machines.
He acknowledged that the plan had not been explained well enough and said China would solicit public view on the software.
But he said China would continue to load it in public places such as schools and Internet cafes.
The ministry is working to enhance the capability of the software, which has the ability to filter out 90 percent of information including pornography, he said.
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
Twenty years after he was a young, struggling actor in Toronto, Thomas Lo (盧瑞麟) is now the one giving young Asian actors their big breaks. He just had to go to Hong Kong to do it. The Chinese Canadian has been the creative director of one of the territory’s biggest TV broadcasting companies for only a few years, but is already making original English-language content to reach viewers around the world. “It was a bit of a full-circle moment for me,” Lo said. “You see more Asians, but you’re still seeing the same Asians on screen, right? We’re looking for more opportunities
RSS