Citizen Lab Research Fellow Jason Q. Ng spoke at a panel organized by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs regarding censorship in Asia. Panelists considered ways of measuring global censorship, and discussed potential paths forward in combating these issues. Ng was joined by Meredith Whittaker, who is the Open Source Research Lead for Google Research and Jordan McCarthy, who is the Measurement Systems Manager of Open Technology Institute.
In addition, Ng published an article in Technology Review this month concerning the obscure language Chinese activists employ on social media in an effort to avoid censorship. He explores the consequences of these methods and the way in which they are shaping the effectiveness of online expression. In particular, Ng highlights the division between individuals who are familiar with the code and thus are able to communicate with it, and others who are unaware of it.
Jason Q. Ng also contributed an article to the World Policy Institute’s Fall 2014 Journal, in which he considers the effects of Chinese Internet company Baidu exporting their search engine to other countries. Recently, the company launched Busca, a Portugese version of its search engine for Brazilian users. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff were personally present to initiate it’s launch. In the piece, Ng discusses the worries of spreading Chinese Internet censorship policy and infrastructure to other nations.
In another article in the Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time, Ng investigates the ambiguity in the censorship policy of China’s most popular messing app, WeChat.
Ng also interviewed Evan Osnos, a longtime Beijing correspondent and staff writer for the New Yorker, on growing unrest in Hong Kong and it’s impact on propaganda and information controls on mainland China.