Internet access in China is, as everyone knows, limited and ironically controlled by the state. In the country that most Internet users have, it is only possible to access a set of sites and the information that is authorized. As Wikipedia is one of many websites that Chinese Internet users want to access, China has decided to address this problem and announced that in 2019 the country will have its own version of Wikipedia. The 20,000 people who will be hired will work to ensure that the Chinese version of Wikipedia will have 300,000 entries and that each will have about a thousand words. The contents will be generated and managed by teachers of the main universities of the country and will be chosen carefully. The idea of Yang Muzhi, the mentor of this project, is not to create own versions of themes and content, but rather to make them better and richer by providing all the necessary information. The many technological giants that exist in China, such as Baidu or Qihoo 360, already have their own versions of Wikipedia, but end up being very far from what the encyclopedia provides. It is not clear what level of influence and controls the Chinese state will have in creating the Great Wall of Culture, but given China’s information control situation, it should be very large. So, what do you think about this new Wikipedia? Simply share your views and thoughts in the comment section below.
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