China holds 'World Internet Conference' as censorship intensifies

As China hosts executives from global tech companies at its World Internet Conference, human rights advocates are warning that online censorship in the country is only getting worse.

Representatives of US firms will rub shoulders with their counterparts from Chinese tech giants at the event, which begins Nov 16 in the sleepy river town of Wuzhen in eastern China. Chinese leaders have typically used the conference to push their doctrine of "internet sovereignty," under which countries would impose their own online borders and regulations. China's goal "poses a real threat to the global and open nature of the internet," said Patrick Poon, a researcher at Amnesty International. The government's use of the grand title "World Internet Conference" despite China's restrictions has spawned a mocking nickname from local web users who've labeled it the "local area internet conference."