Big mama is a Chinese language

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 neologism for an Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 censor

Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China

Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...

 on web bulletin board system

Bulletin board system

A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...

s in the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

.

Etymology

The name is derived from the name for the wife of the eldest uncle, who in traditional Chinese families has the responsibility to take care of everyone. The big mama is usually an employee of the company sponsoring the board whose job it is to remove politically sensitive postings. Big mamas act quite openly and are not reluctant to admit the fact that they are censoring and why they are doing so. The actions of big mamas are generally taken more with annoyance and amusement than with alarm, and there is often some humorous bantering with big mama.

See also

• Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China
  Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China
  Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
  
  
• Jingjing and Chacha
  Jingjing and Chacha
  Jingjing and Chacha are the cartoon mascots of the Internet Surveillance Division of the Public Security Bureau in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. Debuting on January 22, 2006, they are used to, amongst other things, inform Chinese Internet users what is and is not legal to consult or write...
  
  
• Big Brother (1984)
  Big Brother (1984)
  Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence – where the ruling Party wields total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.In the society that Orwell...
  
  
• 50 Cent Party
  50 Cent Party
  The 50 Cent Party is a pejorative unofficial term for Internet commentators hired by the government of the People's Republic of China or the Communist Party to post comments favorable towards party policies in an attempt to shape and sway public opinion on various Internet message boards...
  
  

External links

• Tsui, Lokman (2001). "Big Mama is Watching You: Internet Control by the Chinese government". Unpublished MA thesis, University of Leiden.
• Guttman, Ethan. (2002) "U.S. Capitalists Spread China's Communist Propaganda". NewsMax.com