A new form of protectionism

The Financial Times reports on a new online encyclopedia in China modeled after Wikipedia, which was blocked last year for being politically subversive. Baike, a.k.a. Baidupedia, (content in Chinese) offers the same model of volunteer participation, but all submissions must clear a censor to be posted. A points system rewards those who successfully navigate the filters.  Issuing points is a clever way to conflate accuracy with political correctness, but Wikipedia advocates are predictably skeptical of Baidu’s chances for success. They complain that Baidupedia still lists only a portion of the entries that Wikipedia used to have, and that old Wikipedia articles are appearing on Baidupedia without attribution and stamped with a Baidu copyright. 

In some ways, Chinese censorship of the internet is serving the same role now as protectionist tariffs have in the past, to defend domestic industries from foreign competition.  As economists like to point out, protection for “infant industries” often results in inferior products (thanks Wikipedia), and Baidu may be a case in point. Much has been written about how Chinese censorship restricts freedom and openness, admirable ends in themselves. But if it also limits competition, then it will result in poorer products and hurt domestic consumers economically as well.