Page 187 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 6. The Xiamen PX plant event

companies offer, if one wishes to be a novel news information provider, the company

needs to apply for a License of Cyberspace News Information Service from the Cyber-
space Administration of China, which entitles the company to collect, investigate, edit
and publish news, particularly for current political affairs (Niu, 2017). The supervision
and management of internet news providers relies on the Cyberspace Administration of
China and local cyberspace administration offices. It is the official policy of the govern-

ment to control content generated by the media companies.
The government changed its attitude from banning internet media companies from
producing news to allowing those with a license. This showed the dynamic interaction

between the government and the media market. Internet companies keep discipline and
abide by government regulations in generating and disseminating information through
the adoption of censor and filter techniques, which leads to agreement between the two
parties. From the commercial side, companies are able to attract more customers as an
information provider; from the authority’s side, it is easier to control the information

source and, more importantly, through media companies’ reports of politically sensitive
posts, the government is able to listen to the extracted public opinion and make prompt
responses rather than diving into the mass of online platforms. It is the ideal mutual

beneficial situation for the government and the media market, which is also the only
way for internet companies to survive in China.
However, with the rapid development of online media, user-generated content
became publicly accessible through the popularisation of social networking sites. The
Government could not stop the development of the media market, but is able to track

the information flow through the regulation of media service providers. For instance, in
the Xiamen case, QQ acted as a medium that supported user-generated content on the
dangers of PX and citizens’ protests about the plant. It became an online space for the

formulation of public opinion, but it only existed in cyberspace. When the group leader
planned to organise an assembly, the state intervened and stopped the collective protest.
There was no further consequence for group members or the service provider, Tencent.
This implies that the government may tolerate public participation in cyberspace but
anything that can turn into unauthorised physical participation is prohibited. The gov-

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