Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2014 Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China's censorship Di Pei Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Pei, Di, "Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China's censorship" (2014). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 13999. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/13999 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China’s censorship by Di Pei A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Journalism and Mass Communication Program of Study Committee: Daniela V. Dimitrova, Major Professor Tracy Lucht Richard Mansbach Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2014 Copyright © Di Pei, 2014. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 16 CHAPTER 4. CASE STUDY 22 CHAPTER 5. INTERVIEWS 33 CHAPTER 6. DISCUSSION 47 CHAPTER 7. LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 51 LIMITATIONS 51 IMPLICATIONS 52 REFERENCES 54 APPENDIX 63 INTERVIEW PROTOCOL 63 INFORMED CONSENT 66 iii ABSTRACT China’s Internet has been the subject of much public debate as to whether it has contributed to political change and the progress of individual rights in China.