Byron Dorgan: “Another use of the Internet in China was on a slave labor scandal. In May and June of this year, citizen activists broke…”

“Another use of the Internet in China was on a slave labor scandal. In May and June of this year, citizen activists broke open a scandal that rocked China. Thousands of brick kilns were using kidnaped slave labor. They were men, boys, mentally ill, forced to work under heavy guard, often with no pay and very little food. Parents looking for their missing sons organized on the Internet in China, and they were pleading for Government assistance. They were forced to cover the story in the Chinese press because there was such a mass uprising here. Finally, the Chinese Prime Minister ordered an investigation. Five hundred workers were freed. One hundred sixty people who ran the kilns were arrested. Very few party officials were seriously punished. But the point is, things are changing. The technology is changing in China. The Burmese monks protest, the activism continues right up to today. While the Chinese Government is attempting to shut down this open and free communications with the thought police, they have got thousands of people trying to regulate Internet use, the fact is, it is not working, and technology and communications are having a profound impact and I believe will continue to have a significant impact in the future.”