Naomi Klein wrote a poignant article recently about the ways in which the global surveillance market is being propped up by the Beijing Olympics. Her article is entitled The Olympics: Unveiling Police State 2.0, and it details how the Beijing Olympics are being used as an excuse to sell high tech, police-grade surveillance equipment—security cameras, biometric identification, facial recognition software—to China, a transaction deemed illegal following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Olympics’ status as an international sporting event has seemingly created a backdoor through which such illegal transactions can take place, and they are further bolstered by investments from such American companies like General Electric, Cisco, and Google (yes, Google). Klein goes on to mention how installation of surveillance equipment in China prior to the Beijing Olympics was a government mandated initiative and how this proved to be a ripe opportunity for American investors. In 2001, when China was awarded the honor of hosting the Olympics, it was thought that in the time leading up to the games, international scrutiny would erode the perceived repressive walls of the Chinese state allowing for democracy to flow in, as it were. Klein cites the irony in the events since then when she writes
Instead, the Olympics have opened up a backdoor for the regime to massively upgrade its systems of population control and repression. And remember when Western companies used to claim that by doing business in China, they were actually spreading freedom and democracy? We are now seeing the reverse: investment in surveillance and censorship gear is helping Beijing to actively repress a new generation of activists before it has the chance to network into a mass movement.
She worries that not only will the high tech surveillance equipment stay in China long after the games are over to keep a watchful eye on the Chinese population, but that after the Beijing Olympics are over and determined a success, “Police State 2.0 will be ready for export.” (my italics)
Below is Democracy Now! from August 15th, 2008 which features an interview with Naomi Klein. You can fast forward to 41:40, about 2/3 of the way through, if you want to see it. If you have the time, though, the entire show is worth watching.
Tagged: china, cisco, general electric, google, honeywell, naomi klein, olympics, privacy, surveillance