Nowadays it's fashionable for many Chinese to have a blog to record their thoughts, favorite things, daily life and even their own private secrets, garnering instant feedback from friends and strangers.

Writer Han Han and book reviewer Bai Ye criticized each other harshly in their respective blogs. [sina]

"Do you host a blog?" has become a common question when urban Chinese people meet.

Statistics show that blogging is rapidly moving from the margins to the mainstream of Chinese society, from an avant-garde demeanor to something in style.

In 2005, the number of blogs worldwide exceeded 100 million, with 16 million in China. It is expected that the figure in China will reach 60 million at the end of 2006.

At the end of 2005, China's leading Internet portal Sina made a name for itself by inviting celebrities to write blogs on its website. Many famous film directors, writers and scholars began blogging.

The fact that people can say what they want on blogs not only fosters the development of blogging, but also is causing disputes involving personal attacks, intellectual property violations, wars of words and the disclosure of other people's privacies.

Chen Tong, Editor in Chief of Sina.com, expressed his concerns about the phenomenon at a press conference.

"I am very pleased to see the rapid development of blogging in China. Meanwhile, I frequently feel panic and nervousness. The rapid development of blogging should be well regulated, otherwise any little fault may lead it in the wrong direction,¡± he said.

Not long ago, Han Han, a writer who is known for his fictional books, and book reviewer Bai Ye from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences criticized each other harshly in their respective blogs.

Later, several film directors, musicians and pundits joined in, turning the event into an online tempest.

After that incident, topics such as Internet self-discipline and a so-called "blog pact" began to be discussed in China's online community.

On April 19, Bokee, a leading blog service provider, initiated and signed with 19 other blog hosting sites, including Hexun, Sina and Sohu, China's first Blog Self-Discipline Pact.

The pact consists of restraints to be self-imposed by websites hosting blogs, as well as by bloggers. Both groups are expected to abide by the code of conduct and display social responsibility.

The pact immediately caused great controversy on the Internet. Does it mean regulation or control of the development of blogging, which many bloggers view as an infringement on freedom of speech?

Is it necessary to have such a self-disciplinary pact? Furthermore, is it necessary to create laws to govern blogs?

In the United States, where blogging was born, the Congress debated a blog act in November 2005, to put restraints on blogs. In the end, the act was abandoned.

So far, no country has any laws regarding blogs, though in many instances existing laws such as ones protecting freedom of expression are applicable.

Meaningless act

Chen Cun (writer): For ordinary people, blogs are a good way for them to express personal ideas, or to communicate with friends. In this regard, blogging is a good thing, and a blessing for our times.

However, impacted by the desires of some websites to generate profit through advertisements, well-known figures in China are being dragged into having a blog. The public has found it entertaining to watch others, especially celebrities, vent online through their blogs.

Following the commercial imperative, blog hosting sites don't delete these quarrelling blogs with the excuse that they are "private diaries."

On the contrary, they add fuel to the fire by trying to get more people to join the verbal sparring. Blogs should be a place of self-demonstration, but now they are a place where anyone can enter and curse.

Some people may say that "my blog belongs to me and I can say whatever I want and no one can interfere with me." They are right in saying that.

But the Internet is a public platform and a public space. You can say something at home, or among your friends. But when you post it on the Web, it is open and should be dealt with in accordance with the rules on public affairs.

With today's technology, it is very hard to manage blogs. It is reported that more than 16 million blogs have been registered in China and the number is increasing at about 10 every second. The cost is inconceivable for managing the enormous number of articles, photos, videos and audio products. Who should be responsible for the cost? Blog service providers can't afford it, as the current business model is immature.

The blog pact doesn't have any repercussions under the law, or any punitive measures, and is basically a piece of waste paper. Currently, most blog service providers encourage provoking behaviors on blogs and even incite disputes between bloggers.

It is unreliable to regulate blogs only on the basis of business people's self-discipline and the virtue of netizens. In my opinion, we can borrow from the implementation of the film rating system and devise corresponding norms to regulate bloggers' words, deeds and photos under the current legal framework. Of course, it is not easy to identify the norms.

But some people go too far in their blogs and some even challenge our ethical code through such things as pornography and verbal abuse. If we do not guide the development of blogs, the prospects for blogs will be dim.

If public statements cannot be restrained by law, then the platforms that carry the statements will be in a perilous situation. This is not alarmist talk.

Hong Bo (editor in chief of Donews.com.cn website): This pact does not have any effect on blogs because each person has his own basic line for what is appropriate conduct. You can find rule violators everywhere and there is no such pact worldwide. But foreign companies, in maintaining corporate blogs, have their own policies. Everyone should have a basic knowledge of what can be expressed and what cannot.

I don't think it is necessary to enact laws for blogs because any activity on the web is governed by current laws and it is unnecessary to make new ones.

Wang Xiaoshan (editor at The Beijing News and blogger): Quarreling on the Internet is just one of the features of blogging. As we are under great social pressure, we should say things directly and express ourselves freely online. It is much better than being sick because of pent-up stress, or releasing the anger in real life and fighting on the streets.

I believe the pact is just a byproduct of the quarrels between Han Han and Bai Ye. The dispute itself is not worrying. People who think they are right have a louder voice and those who feel it beneath their dignity to reply just stay silent.

As Karl Marx said, "You marvel at the delightful diversity, the inexhaustible riches of nature. You do not ask the rose to smell like a violet; but the richest of all, the mind, is supposed to exist in only a single manner?"

Han Han (writer and blogger): I will not surrender just because of the pact. My statements only upset those lacking mental prowess. I'm not breaking any laws.

Self-discipline important

Da Yu (columnist at eNet, a Chinese IT website): To discuss this issue, we should first clarify the question of whether blogs are a platform for free expression or a public medium. If blogs are regarded as a platform for free expression, then our freedom of speech should be respected. However, if we regard them as a new public medium, then bloggers should obey related laws.

But the definition of a blog is vague. Actually, most people's blogs, or blogs with a small number of readers, are more like online diaries. Every word on such a blog comes from the writer's mind. As for celebrity blogs, blogs on the first page of a website or blogs with a large number of readers, they have the function of a public medium.

A vague definition leads to difficulties in handling these different types of blogs. The blog pact means to reduce the potential negative influence through the notion of self-discipline.

I think self-discipline is the best way to deal with blogs at the current stage. As one commentator said, "I believe most bloggers are of high quality and that offensive words are usually spoken unconsciously. So long as we make more efforts to stress the awareness of blog writers of acting in a socially responsible manner, virtual rules will naturally be formed and more bloggers will raise their writing level."

Viewed from the experiences and results of self-discipline pacts in other industries, nongovernmental concordats often don't have a strong binding effect. Similarly, most of the clauses in the blog pact are defined by calling for better behavior, but offer only weak enforcement mechanisms.

Most people believe the self-discipline of bloggers is more important than that of blog service providers. But I think just the opposite.

Blogs becoming places of trouble has something to do with what blog hosting websites have done in order to draw eyeballs. They vigorously promote controversial content in blogs, such as sex diaries and online quarrels between celebrities. If such things were not promoted, the current situation of many people feeling pessimistic toward the development of blogs would not have happened.

Thus, management of blogs cannot follow the management mode of traditional media. However, we shouldn't take a laissez-faire attitude. We don't have high expectations on the blog pact, which calls for self-discipline of both bloggers and websites hosting blogs. But at the current stage, this is the best and only available way to regulate blogs.

Finally, I want to point out again that the self-discipline of blog hosting websites is more important than that of bloggers.

Jiang Meizhi (freelancer): No matter what reason is driving Bokee to propose a blog pact, we should respect its courage and support its behavior. It is a good thing that someone is appealing for self-discipline in the complicated blogosphere, and at least it indicates that some people haven't completely fallen into this preposterous situation.

Once blog writers can regulate themselves, it will be unnecessary to invite a third party to regulate the sector, an intervention many people don't want to see. If we don't control our behavior on the Internet, sooner or later a blog law will be devised. At that time, the freedom of speech for bloggers would suffer a devastating blow.

So, while the devising of the Blog Self-Discipline Pact is not perfect, it is very important, necessary and timely.

Lu Tianming (writer): Our Internet environment indeed needs purification. It is necessary to have a blog pact, but I am not optimistic about the effect of the pact because many people lack self-discipline on the Internet.

Guo Zhenghong (lawyer): A website is not an organ of state power and does not have the right to punish. Netizens have nothing at all to fear. Where does the binding force of the pact lie? The pact is only a kind of appeal. But still it is conducive to the Internet morality. Currently, there is a large gap in China's Internet legislation, as only an administrative regulation is available. It is far from enough.