Keynote for the ICA Regional Conference in Shanghai, China, November 2013 on China and Trust in the New Internet World

1. China and Trust in the New Internet World
William H. Dutton
with Gillian Bolsover, Ginette Law, and SoumitraDutta
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
Presentation for ‘Communication and Transformation’, the ICA 2013 Shanghai
Regional Conference, Shanghai, London, 8-10 November 2013.

2. Percentaege of worldwide
Internet population
100%
North America
Europe
Middle East
Africa
Oceania / Australia
Latin America / Caribbean
Asia
80%
60%
40%
43%
37%
30%
29%
24%
20%
0%
1%
0%
2002
2003
2004
2005
2008
15%
10%
4%
3%
2009

3. The Internet Values Project:
‘The New Internet World’
1. New online nations are
dominant in the New World;
2. Users developing a global
Internet culture: sharing
similar values and attitudes;
3. Newly adopting countries are
as liberal, if not more
so, such as in support for
freedom of expression;
4. Users in the newly adopting
nations are more innovative
in some patterns of
use, e.g., social networking.

4. Questions
• Are there patterns of beliefs, attitudes or use
in the New Internet World that will open or
constrain freedom of expression or support or
undermine privacy online?
• Will our 2010 findings stand up in light of our
2012 survey with more nations and in more
languages?
• Where does China sit in the ‘New Internet
World’?

5. The 2012 Survey Sample
Composition:
• 11,225 respondents in 63 countries
MENA
(N)
AFRICA
LATIN
AMERICA
ASIA
EUROPE
OCEANIA
/AUS
NORTH
AMERICA
TOTAL
2,803
595
1,825
2,156
2,025
509
1,312
11,22
5
(N) = 2,309
(N) = 9,166

6. Countries in
dataset (over
200)
Additional
Countries in
Dataset (Less
than 200
respondents)
MENA
REGION
Algeria (n =
229)
Egypt (n =
529)
Jordan (n =
243)
Morocco (n =
270)
Saudi Arabia
(n = 511)
United Arab
Emirates (n =
245)
Afghanistan,
Bahrain,
Israel, Iran,
Iraq, Tunisia,
Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar
and Yemen
AFRICA
South
Africa (n
= 332)
Ghana,
Kenya
and
Nigeria
LATIN
AMERICA
Argentina (n
= 301)
Brazil (n =
305)
Colombia (n
= 306)
Mexico (n =
305)
Peru (n =
307)
ASIA
EUROPE
China (n =
527)
India (n =
507)
Japan (n =
319)
Korea (n =
301)
Germany (n =
328)
United
Kingdom (n =
307)
France (n =
303)
Italy (n = 301)
Spain (n =
303)
Belize,
Bolivia, Chile,
Costa Rica,
Guatemala,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Paraguay
,Uruguay and
Venezuela
Bangladesh,
Hong Kong,
Malaysia,
Pakistan ,
Singapore,
Sri Lanka,
Taiwan, and
Thailand
Denmark,
Finland,
Ireland, The
Netherlands,
Norway,
Poland and
Portugal
OCEANIA/
AUS
Australia
(n = 327)
New
Zealand
NORTH
AMERICA
Canada (n
= 512)
United
States (n
= 800)

7. Five Patterns of Internet Development
Average Internet Penetration Rates
80
Early
Leaders
Trainling
Leaders
Rapid
Developers
Emerging
Nations
Late
Developers
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
20
11
20
10
20
09
20
08
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
0
20
00
Percentage of Population Online
90

8. Centre of Online
Dynamism
China
Trust Bubble?
Emerging Nations
Global
Three Levels of Findings
Centrality of the Internet
for
Entertainment, Commerce
and Information

9. An Internet Trust Bubble?
Support for
Freedom of
Expression, but …
Concern over
Privacy
Trust in
Authenticity of
Information?
• 78% view access to the Internet as a fundamental right
• 75% believe people should be able to say what they feel about their
government online, and be anonymous at times (61%) but …
• Bare majority (54%) believe it is safe to express views online
• 71% of users careful about what they do or say online
• 61% believe the Internet puts privacy at risk, and 67% feel
organizations ask for too much information
• 63% concerned about being monitored online
• Users in emerging nations less aware of risks, more trusting
•
•
•
•
Online news as trusted as traditional news, but …
only 43% trust social media as a source
48% do not trust information written and edited by many people
One in four concerned about authenticity of online information

10. Users in Emerging Nations
create more content

11. Chinese Users Leading in Online
Entertainment, Leisure, Commerce
Early
Leaders
US
Emerging
Nations
China
% making
online
purchase at
least weekly
28
23
30
60
% using
Internet to get
music
30
19
69
80
% watching
videos at least
weekly online
46
39
83
85
3,567
800
3,857
527
N=

12. Prominence of Mobile Use in Emerging
Nations, led by China
Early
Leaders
US
Emerging
Nations
China
% Users
Owning a
Smartphone
51
34
59
86
% Who Play
Games on
Phone
50
34
76
88
% Listening to
Music On
Phone
47
30
84
92
% Browsing
Internet on
Mobile Phone
57
40
79
90

13. Politics
Early
Leaders
US
Emerging
Nations
China
% Who Believe the
Internet is Free
89
92
80
70
% Agree Gov’t
Should Monitor
47
43
46
52
% Agree Gov’t
Should Not
Censor Political
Content
56
65
42
50
% Concerned About
Being Monitored
68
68
59
64
% Posting Political
Opinion Online at
Least Monthly
24
26
54
49

14. Themes
• The shifting centre of gravity
• Converging attitudes and values that support free
expression, privacy and security online
• Patterns of Internet Use Different in Early Leading
and Emerging Nations: content
creation, sociability, mobile use, political speech:
shifting centre of user-driven innovation?
• Commercial, entertainment and mobile Internet
use in China and Emerging Nations increasingly
central to the economy; increasingly critical to
protect

15. Implications for Discussion
• How can we explain the phenomenal activity in
the emerging countries of the New Internet
World where Internet applications and innovative
uses are outstripping activity in US and EU?
• Does strong commercial and entertainment use
of the Internet in China support its potential as a
platform for civic activities?

16. The Internet Values Project
 Focus: Global User Perspectives on Core Values, Expression
 Researchers: William Dutton, Principal Investigator; SoumitraDutta,
Co-Principal Investigator; Ginette Law, Research Associate, Gillian
Bolsover, Research Assistant
Based at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, in
collaboration with the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of
Management, Cornell University.
 Surveys conducted in collaboration with the World Economic Forum
(WEF) and comScore with support from ictQatar
 Administrative support through ISIS Innovation, University of Oxford
 Online field research conducted by Toluna and comScore