Can China manage an online games ban?

by Angus Kidman

Wednesday, 13 December 2006

Online games have joined the ever-growing list of Internet-driven media being closely monitored by the Chinese government, but it remains to be seen how efficiently such a ban can be enforced.

China's official news agency Xinhua has reported that online games will now be more firmly regulated, with new games requiring approval by government censors and references to sensitive political and religious matters -- presumably including the status of Taiwan or the treatment of Falun Gong adherents -- not allowed.

Online gaming has proved a lucrative business in China, with many Chinese accessing the games at low-priced Internet cafes, a common phenomenon throughout Asia.

China has long sought to regulate most Internet content, with companies like Google forced to censor results in order to operate in the country. It also exercises tight control over blogs and other Internet news media, despite an official stance which says Internet access in not blocked.

In practice, managing user-controlled environments such as games may prove more difficult, especially in open-ended gaming systems where users can effectively add new elements to the environment.

Other user-generated media have proved tricky to control. In November, China apparently lifted its ban on the user-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia, but within days, the block on many entries had reappeared again, perhaps in belated recognition by the authorities that it's hard to control a site which can be edited by literally anyone.

An similarly-constructed outright gaming ban might prove more difficult, but in China's highly-regulated Net world, it's not impossible to imagine.

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