Page 190 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

To cope with the widely spread message and social disquiet, the local government

censored and blocked all SMS messages relating to the demonstrations. In addition
to information control, three more methods were implemented to reduce the number
of potential protesters. Firstly, CCP members, civil servants and anyone who held a
position in government institutions were warned to abstain from the demonstration.
Secondly, schools and universities were ordered to extend teaching hours to hold back

students. Thirdly, grassroots administrative networks such as residents’ committees
were ordered to persuade the residents in their neighbourhood not to take part (Huang
and Yip, 2012).

Going against local authorities’ warnings, a large number of citizens responded to
the SMS messages and online discussions and showed up for the demonstration. People
walked through the city’s commercial district and surrounded the government offices to
protest against the plant. Text messages and online petitions played a vital role in mobi-
lising around 10,000 citizens for the demonstrations on 1 and 2 of June (Hung, 2013).

At 09:24 of 1 June, China Mobile Communication Corporation closed its mobile
service in Xiamen. At 12:46, the municipal government made a press release to an-
nounce the postponement of the PX project and an ongoing environmental assessment

(Kennedy, 2007). It declared that the construction of the plant had already stopped,
and that the new assessment would take half a year. The government emphasised that
citizens must use normal channels to report opinions and suggestions, and that the pub-
lic’s concern would be passed on to the environmental specialists. However, the press
release clearly did not stop the development of the ‘collective stroll’.

In China, mobile communication companies are all state-owned and strictly fol-
low the government’s orders. Compared with the communication channels on the inter-
net, it is much easier to set filters to control what kind of message can be sent. A censor

system can be applied to mobile service providers as a whole, or in a more straightfor-
ward approach the service can be disabled, which is the solution that the government
took on the first day of the demonstration. However, when the turnabout occurred in
Xiamen, local government also used SMS services to announce its decision.
There is no doubt that mobile communication companies should serve their con-

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