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WTO case

Is there a WTO case against Chinese Internet censorship?

Facts: Since Google’s decision to pull out of China due to an ever increasing and never ending attack on its software by Chinese hackers and censorships of some its content. The U.S government now finds itself in the mist of a major political debate. Whether or not they should continue to tolerate the restriction imposed by the Chinese government or should they bring the issue up for debate at the WTO as a matter of violations of specific GATT rules, which the Chinese government signed prior to joining the World Trade Organization.

Issue: The issue at hand would be to determine whether or not Chinese Internet censorship discriminates against foreign companies, by blocking the flow of services and goods, whether the murky political structure of the Chinese government offers a medium in which these issues can be remedied.

Arguments for the U.S.: As a condition for the Chinese government assimilation into the WTO it had agreed that US service companies and others would have the same access in China as their own companies.  As we may well know that China has made no qualms in requiring that most U.S. companies collaborate in their goal to censor free democratic speech by those the government brand as a threat to their legitimacy and government. Case in point, Yahoo, which has supplied the Chinese government with personal emails of its own citizens is a perfect example why censorship can be detrimental. As Chinese authorities have used them to prosecute its own citizens.  Not only do these restrictions limit the breadth and scope of international commerce but it also violates many international human rights as the Chinese government is attempting to use the censorship of the Internet as a weapon to further dismantled those whose views are different from theirs.

Arguments for China: The services which are provided by Google are categorized as “ online information and data processing” and “ online information and data   searching” according to WTO rules and Chinese Laws and regulations. The WTO rules state clearly that the governments of member states have lawful right of supervision, including censoring Internet content. According to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, measures like Internet censorship that are universally applicable to service providers can be applied as long as they are reasonable, impartial and fair. As such, the rule does permit the Chinese government and any other government the option to govern and limit the types of content provided to its citizens.  Furthermore, Google’s market share since entering the Chinese market has increase from 13 % in 2006 to 39% in 2009 while also enjoying national treatment in the country. This is not a matter of trade restrictions but rather an attempt by China to limit those who would utilize the Internet to infringe on China’s national security and to create a healthier internet experience free from explicit content.