• by Tameka Kee , September 4, 2007

Authorities in Beijing announced that two virtual police officers would soon begin visible patrols on Chinese Web sites--avatars will pop up every half hour to remind surfers that their online activities are being watched.

According to the China Daily newspaper, the 'Beijing Internet Police' will look out for Web sites and Internet activities that "incite secession, promote superstition, gambling, fraud and pornography." The cyber cops will appear on sites hosted by 13 Beijing-based major Web portals, with expansion to all city Internet sites by the end of the year. The avatars (named "Jing" and "Cha," after the two characters that make up the Chinese word for "police") first appeared on portals based out of the southern city of Shenzhen last year, according to the newspaper.

Chinese authorities have stressed that the 'Beijing Internet Police' are only out to combat Internet crimes, as users can click on the avatars to report suspicious activities and gain info about malicious or harmful sites. Web privacy and democracy advocates, however, argue that this is yet another step by the Chinese government to silence bloggers and other sources of political dissent on the Web.

"China ... spends an enormous amount on Internet surveillance equipment and hires armies of informants and cyber-police," read a statement from Reporters Without Borders, a freedom-of-the-press agency. "With China enjoying increasing political influence, people are wondering ... whether perhaps China's Internet model, based on censorship and surveillance, may one day be imposed on the rest of the world."