Page 262 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

mental interest of millions of citizens in Xiamen. It led to a large demonstration and

generated a dramatic effect within society. The Yihuang demolition case brought the
urbanization issue to all netizens on Weibo under the context that the demolition prob-
lem is a severe issue faced by the Chinese government after the reform and opening-up
policy. With horrifying and eye-catching keywords on Weibo posts such as ‘self-hurt-
ing’, ‘seize the corpse’ and ‘the battle in the ladies’ room’, the Yihuang case not only

awakened the emotions of internet users who have suffered or will be facing the same
demolition situation, but also attracted significant attention from ordinary netizens.
Generally, public issues that are similar to these cases would achieve solutions

acceptable to all parties, including the government, the victims, activists and also the
general public. One important reason is that the CCP’s ruling principle is to maintain its
sovereignty and social stability. If social events are amplified by online public partici-
pation and upgraded to an intense stage, some risks will arise regarding social stability,
and even affect the legitimacy of the CCP’s one-party rule. However, if social events

are expected to be negotiable, and victims and participants are willing to achieve a
solution, the fundamental premise is that their behaviour do not challenge the bottom
line of the CCP and the central government. Today’s online public sphere in China is

already relatively developed. Together with the growing education level of Chinese
netizens and the government’s prompt and mature responding scheme, a tacit under-
standing has been reached between the parties in the majority of sensitive social events.
In terms of the government’s bottom line in online public participation, the in-
terviewees agreed that information relating to illegal activities such as pornography,

gambling and drugs; information that contains sensitive words or topics; and extreme
opinions that question the legitimacy of the CCP and its governing capacity, are beyond
the acceptance and tolerance of the government.

8.2.4 Chinese government’s reaction to public participation

Overall, in China’s social environment, there has been a lack of mature self-regu-

lation from the bottom of the online public sphere. Therefore, when public events take
place, the attitude of the government becomes the key influencing element. However,

246
246