Reflections on Digital Growth: China Digital Times Releases Updated Lexicon
Marking two decades of remarkable growth in China's online community, China Digital Times unveils an expanded edition of its defining eBook on Internet expression.
Jordan Taylor
- 2023-12-28
- Updated 09:54 PM ET
(NewsNibs) - Founded on September 12, 2003, China Digital Times (CDT) has chronicled the exponential growth of China's online population from nearly 60 million users in early 2003 to a staggering figure exceeding one billion in 2023. This 20-year period has seen not just quantitative but also qualitative changes in the digital landscape of the country. In celebration of this milestone, the CDT has announced the release of a new, completely revised and expanded edition of their eBook, formerly known as "the Grass Mud Horse Lexicon."
Navigating Online Discourse in China
This latest edition of the eBook contains a curated list of 104 terms that are seminal in understanding the evolution and current state of online speech in China. Through its content, CDT aims to provide insight into the intricate dance of online expression growth, the deliberate efforts by the government to regulate it, and how individuals and netizens have found ways to resist and push back against these regulatory measures. The resource is thought to be a key tool for academics, journalists, and anyone interested in the ongoing tug-of-war between censorship and free speech on the Chinese Internet.
Accessing the Lexicon
Embracing a modern approach to distribution, the CDT Lexicon is made available in PDF format through a "pay what you want" model, with a suggested minimum donation of US$5. This initiative encourages readers to contribute what they feel the eBook is worth, offering a sliding contribution scale starting from US$5 and capping at US$50. These donations are crucial in supporting the ongoing work of China Digital Times, which operates as a vital observatory of China’s cyberspace and an advocate for freedom of speech.
As China's online community moves past its twentieth year of unceasing expansion and cultural evolution, China Digital Times' latest release serves not only as a linguistic guide but as a historical document. It captures the spirit of an era where the Internet has become a battleground of ideas and the lexicon, a map to navigate it.
