Facebook 'could be a spy tool'
- Source: Global Times
- [01:45 July 09 2010]
- Comments
Facebook declined to comment, saying it was not aware of the report Thursday. Facebook is blocked on the Chinese mainland.
By Peng Pu
Facebook and certain other social networking sites may be exploited by Western intelligence services and used for subversive purposes, according to a recent report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
The Annual Report on Development of New Media in China, released Wednesday, said the increasing use of social networking websites has invaded the privacy of Internet users. Some websites such as Facebook have also released confidential business, political and military information, the report said.
"Its special political function can be a threat," the report noted.
Facebook declined to comment, saying it was not aware of the report Thursday. "We do not have plans for China," Elizabeth Linder, a press officer at the company, told the Global Times via e-mail.
Facebook is blocked on the Chinese mainland.
Liu Ruisheng, a deputy researcher at CASS, told the Global Times that all online platforms that allow freedom of expression have a dual political function, not only Facebook.
"Of course we advocate free speech and an open platform, but it doesn't mean all information, good and bad, should freely circulate on the Internet," he said.
He cited the 2009 Iranian presidential election and last year's bloody rioting in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as examples.
"After the clashes in Urumqi, countless posts, pictures and revolting speeches appeared on Facebook. Some organizations used the opportunity to propose independence for Xinjiang, which had a very bad impact," he added.
Yin Yungong, head of the Institute of Journalism and Communication, CASS, told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post that the Internet could be a double-edged sword, giving voice to free expression but also spreading negative messages through libel and defamation.
