29 votes

Goldfish memories - most of China’s early websites have disappeared

Posted by skybrian
Tags: internet, china, websites, censorship, history, preservation.historic, author.david bandurski, source.chinamediaproject
https://chinamediaproject.org/2024/05/27/goldfish-memories/

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Title
Goldfish Memories - China Media Project
Authors
David Bandurski
Published
May 27 2024
Word count
1265 words

8 comments

  1. [8]
    skybrian
    Link
    From the article: … There is a partial translation of the essay at the end of the article.

    From the article:

    Written by He Jiayan (何加盐), an internet influencer active since 2018, the essay concluded, based on a wide range of searches of various entertainment and cultural figures from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s, that nearly 100 percent of content from major internet portals and private websites from the first decade of China’s internet has now been obliterated. “No one has recognized a serious problem,” wrote He. “The Chinese-language internet is rapidly collapsing, and Chinese-language internet content predating the emergence of the mobile internet has almost entirely disappeared.”

    …

    Posted on Wednesday, May 22, He’s post had been removed from WeChat by the following day, yielding a 404 message that read: “This content violates regulations and cannot be viewed.”

    There is a partial translation of the essay at the end of the article.

    17 votes
    1. [7]
      Sassanix
      Link Parent
      This would happen to the western democracies as well, if we allow our governments to have more control over the content. For example In Canada news is blocked from all social media platforms.

      This would happen to the western democracies as well, if we allow our governments to have more control over the content.

      For example In Canada news is blocked from all social media platforms.

      2 votes
      1. [5]
        skybrian
        Link Parent
        I think that’s unfortunate, but I don’t see most social media platforms serving as archives. It seems like they mostly don’t have good ways of searching for old posts? Reddit can be searched using...

        I think that’s unfortunate, but I don’t see most social media platforms serving as archives. It seems like they mostly don’t have good ways of searching for old posts? Reddit can be searched using Google, so that’s a bit better.

        I’m curious how that works for Reddit. What do they block for Canadians?

        7 votes
        1. unkz
          Link Parent
          Reddit doesn't meet the criteria for inclusion, so they don't do anything. Really, only Facebook and Google are affected by this law -- the criteria were created basically to target them...

          Reddit doesn't meet the criteria for inclusion, so they don't do anything. Really, only Facebook and Google are affected by this law -- the criteria were created basically to target them specifically. And Google isn't blocking, they're choosing to pay. The only one blocking is Facebook.

          https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2023/12/backgrounder-final-regulations-for-the-online-news-act.html

          A digital platform must meet all the following thresholds in order to be subject to the framework:

          • Earn a total global revenue of $1 billion (CAD) or more in a calendar year.
          • Operate in a search engine or social media market involving the distribution and access of online news content in Canada.
          • Operate in a strategic market identified above and have 20 million or more Canadian average monthly unique visitors or Canadian average monthly active users.

          The last one is I believe where reddit gets to escape.

          5 votes
        2. [3]
          balooga
          Link Parent
          Agreed, if anything, Facebook and its ilk have hastened the impermanence of content on the web. So much is ephemeral now. Even if it gets archived somewhere it’s likely hard to index and search...

          Agreed, if anything, Facebook and its ilk have hastened the impermanence of content on the web. So much is ephemeral now. Even if it gets archived somewhere it’s likely hard to index and search for later.

          3 votes
          1. blivet
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            Yeah, it’s next to impossible to find posts that I’ve seen on Instagram once I’ve left the app. Even just a few seconds later they seem to have vanished. I suppose from Meta’s point of view it...

            Yeah, it’s next to impossible to find posts that I’ve seen on Instagram once I’ve left the app. Even just a few seconds later they seem to have vanished. I suppose from Meta’s point of view it keeps me “engaged” longer try to hunt for a post, but the longer-term result is that I haven’t actually opened the app in months.

            4 votes
          2. BeardyHat
            Link Parent
            A side effect, it seems, is that it allows some privacy through obfuscation. Maybe I'm over selling it here, but it seems to me that if stuff is rapidly disappearing and not searchable, it makes...

            A side effect, it seems, is that it allows some privacy through obfuscation. Maybe I'm over selling it here, but it seems to me that if stuff is rapidly disappearing and not searchable, it makes it much harder for individuals to glean information on other people.

            I don't have any data or anything to back up this opinion, just feels like it might be the case.

            2 votes
      2. unkz
        Link Parent
        Actually only blocked from Meta.

        Actually only blocked from Meta.

        3 votes