How Internet, Social Media Can Change China

Social media sites are giving China’s millions of Internet users a channel to express themselves and could open the door to “unstoppable” transformation in the country, the founder of video site Tudou.com says.

“Younger generations are getting a taste for being able to express themselves,” said Tudou’s Gary Wang during The Wall Street Journal’s Unleashing Innovation conference. “It will be very difficult to put that into a cage. I’m optimistic that this will be unstoppable.”

Smartphones have hastened the adoption of social media tools, such as Sina Corp.'s SINTwitter-like weibo service, among China’s 500-million-plus Internet users.

For the first time, millions of people can use cellphones to express their views, said Zhao Jing, a Chinese blogger and journalist known as Michael Anti. “This may not be equal to democracy, but at least it’s a training for democracy,” he said.

“Sometimes freedom of speech doesn’t exist in China, but you should practice freedom of speech as if it existed,” said Mr. Zhao.

Mr. Wang, who launched Tudou.com in 2005, retired last year as its chief executive, after the company, Tudou Holdings Ltd., merged with rival Youku Inc. with the latter being the dominant partner.

The Chinese government employs software and thousands of officials to police the Internet, while leaving much of the censoring to the operators of social media sites.

Companies have to make sure that they will prosper within China, and it is crucial for a Chinese company to be viewed as a good citizen, said Mr. Wang.

Beijing’s continued censorship has created obstacles for overseas Internet businesses in their attempts to expand in China. In 2010 Google Inc. rerouted its search engine from mainland China to Hong Kong due to censorship concerns. The U.S. company has lost market share in search and other online services to Chinese rivals.

When Google decided to pull out of China, “I couldn’t sleep that night,” said Mr. Wang. “We all believe in keeping things open,” he said. Still, Mr. Wang also admitted that Google’s exit “did create an opening” for other local Internet players like Tudou.

网络社交媒体如何改变中国

视频网站土豆网创始人说，社交媒体网站让中国亿万网民获得了一条表达渠道，有可能为这个国家不可阻挡的转型创造条件。

王微(Gary Wang)在《华尔街日报》“释放创新”大会(Unleashing Innovation)上说，年轻人正尝到能够表达自我的那种感觉，这将很难关进笼子，我乐观地认为这个趋势不可阻挡。

智能手机加快了新浪微博等社交媒体工具在中国5亿多网民中的普及。

笔名“安替”(Michael Anti)的中国博客作者、新闻人赵静说，很多人第一次可以用手机来表达观点。他说，这或许并不等于民主，但至少是一种民主训练。

赵静说，有时候言论自由在中国并不存在，但你应该练习言论自由，就当它是存在一样。

王微在2005年创办土豆网(Tudou Holdings Ltd.)。去年这家公司同竞争对手优酷网(Youku Inc.)合并，后者占主导地位，王微卸任土豆网首席执行长一职。

中国政府动用软件和成千上万的人员来巡查互联网，同时把很大一部分审查工作交给社交网站的运营方去做。

王微说，公司必须确保它们会在中国取得成功，而被视为好公民对于中国公司来说是至关重要的。

北京的持续审查给海外互联网企业在中国的扩张造成了障碍。2010年，因为审查方面的顾虑，谷歌(Google Inc.)将其搜索引擎从中国内地转移到香港。这家美国公司已经将搜索及其他网络服务的市场份额输给了中国本土的竞争对手。

王微说，谷歌撤出中国的那天晚上我无法入睡。他说，我们全都相信保持开放的道理。但王微也承认，谷歌的退出确实为土豆网等其他本土互联网企业创造了契机。