China is hosting the World Internet Conference

China is hosting the World Internet Conference. Yes, China, which blocks thousands of websites and dozens of social media apps, today opened the World Internet Conference. Let’s take a moment to let that sink in.

In a statement before the conference opened, Lu Wei, the chairman of China’s State Internet Information Office (SIIO), referred to blocked sites such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter by saying, “I never visited these websites before, therefore I don’t know whether they have been shut down.”

Let’s take another moment to let that sink in. So, the head of China’s internet bureau claims not to be aware that the nation has a massive system of online censorship, called the Great Firewall, that blocks a huge array of websites, including the most talked-about sites in the world.

I like to imagine that Mr. Wei watched The Social Network, the movie directed by Aaron Sorkin, and enjoyed the tale of an American man with a penchant for grey T-shirts starting up a fictional website called Facebook.

Tech luminaries in attendance


Although this looks like some kind of bizarro land event that only glad-handing politicians and ambassadors would go to, it’s actually attracted some leading tech execs, such as Facebook’s Vaughan Smith, Apple’s Bruce Sewell, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, and Softbank’s Masayoshi Son. The event likely won’t tackle core problems and outright absurdities in the way China’s authorities lock down the internet, but the name of the game seems to be dialogue. Dialogue that won’t really change anything.

On the plus side, the World Internet Conference brings together a lot of very exciting tech leaders in one venue, in the picturesque, historic Zhejiang “water village” of Wuzhen, including Chinese luminaries such as Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, and Qihoo’s Zhou Hongyi.

See: China blocks thousands of non-sensitive sites in brash move to censor a few bad eggs

Here are some of the best tweets so far about the World Internet Conference:

Am I the only one who finds World Internet Conference a joke? Shame on web leaders! Just fly to China to shake hands? pic.twitter.com/c1rsOCjNTL

— George Chen (@george_chen) November 19, 2014
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On patrol at World Internet Conference in case anyone falls into the river. Those extinguishers can put out firewalls pic.twitter.com/xx2rFsyV0T

— Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) November 19, 2014
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Xinhua reports tech stock indexes up in China on World Internet Conference. Chinese leaders have tongues of gold. pic.twitter.com/RETLrY2hKk

— Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) November 19, 2014
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Hearing of obvious use of stingrays (fake base stations) to collect cell calls at China's World Internet Conference: http://t.co/THS5J4eQGB

— Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) November 19, 2014
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Small protest outside the World Internet Conf venue in Wuzhen reported amid tight security. Demanding access to Google, Facebook, Twitter.

— Patrick Boehler (@mrbaopanrui) November 19, 2014
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#ICANN President & CEO Fadi Chehade addressing World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. pic.twitter.com/omSwUiOy8V

— Liana Teo (@liana_teo) November 19, 2014
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#China stance on global #Internet, boiled down: "We are big, we are worth a lot of money and we insist on control" http://t.co/2BwbVkHDwZ

— Edmond Lococo 罗孟德 (@EdmondLococo) November 18, 2014
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This post China is hosting the World Internet Conference. Let’s take a moment to let the insanity of that sink in. appeared first on Tech in Asia.