China: Achtung! for the Party Congress

As reports continue to emerge about a massive tightening of media and Internet expression in the lead-up to the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress, and despite efforts to keep speculative whispering in Beijing (along with negative reporting) to a minimum, at least some outlets are passing the baton of self-regulation to their users more explicitly. In a helpful yellow warning banner on its home page, the citizen media site My1510.cn has informed its readers of the following:

"关注: 请大家共同维护本部落，在这段公告显示期间，约束自己在这里的表达，不要发表违反规定的评论，如果被删除，请理解。谢谢。"

Attention: Everybody please act together to protect this tribe, during this announced time period, and restrain your expression here. Do not publish commentaries that violate regulations. If they have been deleted, please understand. Thank you.

By acting to simply unplug Internet data centers across the country (and affecting tens of thousands of websites), government authorities appear to be derailing, at least temporarily, their practice of promoting Internet infrastructure and access as essential for economic development. At the very least, it demonstrates that there are times when the government considers the stakes high enough to make an exception.