Censorship

ACCESS DENIED - are you blocked by RED ?!@# CHINA

I’ve seen it before, but I recently read a post that reminded me of the above site. Good personal blog, photography, more… you can read Heidi’s blog here.

China and Censorship

I’ve heard about it some, read a little on it here and there.. if this issue interests you there is a good wikipedia entry for Chinese government censorship on topic. I’ve included some snippets below with commentary.

Escalation of the government’s effort to neutralize critical online opinion comes after a series of large anti-Japanese, anti-pollution and anti-corruption protests, many of which were organised or publicised using instant messaging services, chatrooms and text messages. Although the existence of an internet police task force, estimated at more than 30,000,^[1][2] has been known for some time, attention is mostly focused on their work as censors and monitors. Countless critical comments appearing on Internet forums, bulletin boards, blogs, vlogs or any major portals such as Sohu and Sina are usually erased within minutes.

On Enforcement of government sponsored censorship

The banning appears to be mostly uncoordinated and ad-hoc, with some sites being blocked and similar sites being allowed or even blocked in one city and allowed in another.^[5] The blocks have been often lifted for special occasions. One example was the New York Times which was unblocked when reporters in a private interview with Jiang Zemin specifically asked about the block and he replied that he would look into the matter. During the APEC summit in Shanghai during 2001, normally-blocked media sources such as CNN, NBC, and the Washington Post suddenly became accessible.

Could you imagine how the American public would react if any sources of information were suddenly destroyed or just vanished! I want to say we’d see an American revolution, but I’m not so sure anymore after having experienced Iraq and the political tension, frustration, and war that resulted from 9/11 terrorism. Beyond revolution, though, Censorship is a really big deal. Governments shouldn’t dictate the information that people decide to consume.

We take our freedoms and liberty for granted

Freedom of speech is a wonderful 1st amendment right that we often take for granted. Sometimes, though, its more than just speech. The fact that there is an infinite source of information out there allows people to pick and choose what they want to read or view or do and act and make it a part of their life experience! In a way, censorship when it pertains to information is more of an attack on liberty and property than it is privacy and speech issue, but we (Americans) rarely see it that way.

Liberty, Property, Privacy, and Speech

The freedom that comes with a right to associate (KKK, RNC, DNC, NRA, ACLU, ACLJ) the liberty to express (free speech lays out the foundation for American principles and governance) the right to be a Christian, engage in Satanic rituals, join special clubs that are only appreciated by a certain type of thinker, purchase and read books, magazines, porn, or watch it for that matter!

These are all rights that we couldn’t live without in our country because there is a belief in our “American culture,” if-you-will that demands that we have a right to be free of government intervention in our daily lives.

United States Liberty and Censorship

In the United States, you can pretty much access any information you like but a different kind of censorship exists. The censorship here is the one imposed by the very same institutions and people that are protected by the 1st amendment.

A few examples of censoring bodies

1. Religions that insist on certain religious values
2. anti-religious groups that insist on certain ways of living
3. political parties that have agendas and politics to meet certain needs
4. professors molded by the society they are preparing you to join
5. corporate institutions with agendas for the masses
6. teachers, society, television, movies, the media
7. large organizations that fight in the name of the Constitution, e.g. NRA, ACLU, ACLJ
8. government itself tells us what and how to be, act, think, often without reason

wikipedia references

1. ^ Watts, Jonathan (2005-06-14). China’s secret internet police target critics with web of propaganda. The Guardian.
2. ^ this number is fabricated: http://ice.citizenlab.org/?p=127#internetpolice

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
Email this author | All posts by Fred Soto