Research Paper - Detailed Outline:

Introduction
Hook

Background Information about

topic/Setting the context of the
topic or issue

"Censorship reflects a societies lack of confidence in itself. It

is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime..."
-Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States
383 U.S. 463 (1966)
The Chinese communist party uses the world's largest and
most intricate censorship system on the planet, nicknamed
the "Great Firewall of China" by the media. It also has one of
the most if not the most largest digital and data empires on
the planet in which it controls. It controls the entire TV and
Mobile communications infrastructure within China This has
given rise incredible internet, news media, and mobile
censorship. Today, China employs approximately 30
thousand "Internet Police Agents" who investigate and
censor individuals that post information online which may
expose Chinese government officials. The Chinese
government owns and controls all internet access with China
effectively blocking any content on demand. Today 1 in 4
websites that are normally accessible by Google and other
search engines are blocked by the Chinese government. The
Chinese Central government also controls and manipulates
the media by blocking a reportedly 923 media websites and
controlling internet censorship. This results in over 1.72
billion people effectively experiencing some type of internet,
news and mobile censorship daily.
With all of the above, it is apparent that the China's
Communist Government censorship is extensive including
internet, mobile instant messaging services and blogging,
books, magazines, newspapers, and academic research, cell
phone communications thus limiting free speech and
business with fear of retribution.
Now the Chinese Government claims in its official policy
documents that it has an open information policy for Media,
Mobile and internet. It also claims that it's mild censorship is
for the good of the nation as it prevents hacking and viruses
from impeding the nations security, economy and the ability
to conduct business. These official statements are
contradictory to documented actions as found in this
research paper.
The people of China have the right to communicate, share,
and view information freely, and should not be censored by
the government in its attempt to maintain control of the
opinion of the people.

Reference claims; reference your

counterargument
Thesis Statement

Body Paragraph #1
Claim

Evidence
Interpretation

Evidence
Interpretation

By censoring media the government is controlling the knowledge of the

population in regards to country wide events by censoring books,
magazines, newspapers, and academic research. This results in
informational control to the populous.
http://www.cfr.org/china/media-censorship-china/p11515
According to Human Rights Watch, "Censorship guidelines are circulated
weekly from the Communist Party propaganda department and the
government Bureau of Internet Affairs to prominent editors and media
providers." By controlling the output of the press on a week by week
basis, the communist party essentially controls the opinion of the general
public by limiting what events the Chinese citizens see as well as the rest
of the world. This is a clear violation of Article 19 of the UN's Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, of which China is a signatory. Article 19
states that as humans all people have the right to exchange and view
information as they please.
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/china-and-tibet
The government also controls who is able to become a journalist, by
requiring they "pass political ideology exams before they can be issued
official press cards." (hrw.org). The government essentially has full and
complete control over who is in the media, therefore controlling what kind
of content is released by the media. This allows the Chinese government
to completely manipulate the views and opinions of the general public,
preventing people from obtaining general information about the world
and other current events freely and without bias. Additionally, journalist
are not paid for their stories unless the stories are "approved" by the
communist government. If their stories are not approved the journalist has
to eat the cost of the story.

Repeat as needed
Body Paragraph #2
Claim

Evidence

Chinas government controls cell phone communications and openly

monitors voice and text communications directly limiting free speech and
business with fear of retribution.
On January 29th, 2015 The New York Times reported that China cut off the
ability to receive Gmail on smartphones through third-party email services

like Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook. This excessive control over email
and Internet traffic is the slowing down of legitimate commerce, and that
is not something in Chinas best interest, said James Zimmerman,
chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. This effects
the Chinese citizens ability to promote the sharing of information and
prosper by building new companies and conducting international business
outside the realm of CCP control. This once circumventing of the CCP
created a sense of loss of information control for the Chinese Communists
Government and with it part of its citizenry.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/world/asia/china-clamps-down-stillharder-on-internet-access.html
Interpretation
Evidence

Since the inception of the telecommunication industry within China, the

CCP has maintain 100% ownership and control China Mobile and China
Unicom, the largest and only providers in China. China Mobile manages
over 557 Million subscribers, and is censored by The Great firewall of
China and as reported by The Telegraph, and also monitors over 107
Billion text messages a day for content against the State. This also points
to and includes any foreigner conducting business in China allowing the
state to intercept and read private and sensitive business content used for
negotiations against the same companies conducting business in China.
The consistent monitoring of text messages and voice discussions
provides an unparalleled economic advantage to the Chinese government
by accessing insider information on all private and public business
conducted within China thereby artificially manipulating their economy,
stock market, and foreign stock markets by insider trading information.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6996885/Chinabegins-monitoring-billions-of-text-messages-as-censorship-increases.html

Evidence

According to the Human Rights Watch World Report of 2015, and as

reported by the Financial Times, the Chinese ruling CCP targeted the
Internet and mobile applications with additional restrictions in 2014
such as targeting WeChat, a popular instant messaging, by closing
popular public accounts that report and comment on current internal
affairs. The CCP also suspended popular foreign instant messaging
services including Kakao Talk, because the Kakoa Talk was being used for
distributing terrorism-related information. However no verifiable proof
was ever supplied.
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/china-and-tibet
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/81075e92-1e00-11e4-ab5200144feabdc0.html#axzz3qwWpkRc8

Int

evd

The censorship and suspensions of the popular messaging sites

particularly those of open public information was an informational control
threat to the CCP and therefore curtailed.
In a 2012 a Reporters Without Boarders (RWB) Enemies of Internet,
Special Edition: Surveillance report stated that Skype, one of the worlds
most popular Internet telephone platforms, is altered for use and closely
monitored within China. The Chinese-language version of Skype, known as
TOM-Skype, is different from versions in other countries.
In order to conform to the restrictions imposed by the government, TOMSkype software is equipped with an automatic filter not only used to
detect certain keywords in text chat, but also monitor, trigger and store
everyday conversations within the governments data empire. Simply a
senders or recipients name can in itself trigger the interception and
storage of a conversation. This Voice Over IP (VOIP) monitoring and
conversational storage removed the ability for free speech and limits
expression of dissent state discussions. Subsequent reports now indicate
that China will prevent TOM-Skype calls between certain individuals and
countries.
However, as a result of this censorship and monitoring by the Chinese
government, there are today 90 journalists and internet bloggers who
have been arrested and are imprisoned.

http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/china/

Body Paragraph #3
Claim

Evidence

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) limits accessibility to local and
international internet content, thereby manipulating and controlling the
knowledge and actions of its citizenry. The CCP censors and punishes any
individual who might spark collective action against the state (CCP) by
using such internet media as instant messaging services and blogging.
The CCP owns and controls the internet backbone in China which initially
was made up of 4 national networks; CTNET, Chinanet, Cernet and
CHINAGBN. These 4 networks, have been subsequently restructured into
todays China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile are all under the
controls of the CCP. The CCP maintains five (5) departments that are
directly involved in censoring and monitoring the Web:
1. The Internet Affairs Bureau and the Centre for the Study of Public
Opinion of the State Council Information Office
2. The Internet Bureau and the Information and Public Opinion Bureau
of the Publicity Department (formerly the Propaganda Department).
3. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)
4. The Internet Information Security Supervision of the Ministry of
Public Security

5. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technologys Internet

Illegal Information Reporting Cen
These departments along with its provincial censors issue secret
directives daily to website administrators on forbidding or restricting
topics such as the escape from house arrest for activist Chen
Guangchengs, the 2011 anniversary of a fatal train crash, and foreign
media reports on the extraordinary wealth of members of Premier Wen
Jiabaos family.
http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/china/
https://freedomhouse.org/blog/media-control-china-model-complexity-andthoroughness
Interpretation
Evidence

According to Freedom House, a 1941 US Government established NGO,

the Chinese government has developed the worlds most sophisticated
and multilayered apparatus for censoring, monitoring, and manipulating
online content. Nationwide technical filtering, known as The Great
Firewall of China, restricts users access to uncensored information
hosted outside of China. One of the most prevalent functions of filtering
has been to permanently block applications like YouTube, Facebook and
Twitter. Popular Chinese domestically grown applications have replaced
these sites but the owning firms are legally liable for content posted by all
users. For fear of being shut down or thrown in jail, each firm employs
automated programs and thousands of human censors to screen usergenerated content and delete relevant posts per CCP directives. One
academic censorship study across nearly 1,400 blog-hosting and bulletinboard platforms estimated that 13 percent of posts were deleted.
https://freedomhouse.org/blog/media-control-china-model-complexity-andthoroughness

Interpretation
Repeat as needed

On January 29th, 2015 The New York Times reported that China had
instituted new excessive regulations that would force foreign technology
and telecom companies to give the government back doors to their
hardware and software and require them to store data within China. This
unprecedented requirement allows the CCP to engage in total content
filtering and control across China. Western business owners have been
complaining about their inability to gain access to many Google services
in China since the summer of 2014 as these services have been cut off by
the Chinese government in order to control internet and social media
information. Additionally, Lu Wei, the new Chinese Internet Czar and
former propaganda official appointed by President Xi Jinping, has been
unapologetic in promoting the notion that China has the right to block a
wide array of online content. This is direct conflict to the Chinese
governments stated policy and position according to the Information
Office of the State Council of the Republic of China The Internet in

China policy.

Body Paragraph #4 (Counterargument)

Claim

Evidence (to support

Some may argue that China's government controls the flow of information
to maintain and control internet security, national security, economic
stability, and social unrest.
http://china.org.cn/government/whitepaper/node_7093508.htm

that position)

Interpretation

Evidence (to support

that position)

Interpretation

Refutation

Evidence

According to the Information Office of the State Council of the Peoples

Republic of China, the Chinese government "encourages the use of the
Internet in ways which aim to promote economic and social progress, to
improve public services and facilitate people's work and life, and steps up
its efforts to build a well-structured and balanced use of the Internet,
improves its advancement and application." The Chinese government
claims to promote open use of the internet, and its use in the
advancement of society.
"China is one of the countries suffering most from hacking. According to
incomplete statistics, more than one million IP addresses in China were
controlled from overseas in 2009, 42,000 websites were distorted by
hackers, 18 million Chinese computers are infected by the Conficker virus
every month, about 30% of the computers infected globally."
The Chinese government claims to have a very large issue with computer
hacking and viruses, claiming 18 million of its computers are infected by
Conficker every month, and that it needs control over the internet to
protect its citizens from hackers and viruses.
Although they claim that their control helps China's economic
advancement, as previously stated, the chairman of the American
Chamber of Commerce in China has said "This excessive control over
email and Internet traffic is the slowing down of legitimate commerce, and
that is not something in Chinas best interest."
The statistics China presents in its segment about computer hacking are
insubstantial if compared to the actual population of the country. It claims
that one million users IPs were controlled in 2009, but when calculated
out, that number makes up less than .01% of its population. In addition,
its statistic about the Conficker virus is simply incorrect. Multiple sources
confirm that the virus infected no more than 15 million computers in its
entire lifespan. Therefore, it is simply impossible for 18 million of China's
computers to become infected every month.

Interpretation
Evidence
Interpretation
Conclusion
Restate thesis using different wording
Summarize key points/claims
Concluding sentence that makes it clear what
you want your reader to know

Call to Action
Reminders for the Final Draft:
Make sure you have lead-ins before each of your quotes
Use in-text citations after quotes
MLA Format (Double space entire paper- no extra spaces between paragraphs, 1
inch margins, 12 point font, Times New Roman, proper heading, title, header with
page numbers)
Works Cited Page