With the recent news that Google will end it’s censorship in China, it has reopen this gaping wound of this sensitive issue of a nation striving to block it’s people of “undesirable” websites.
So, i thought one of the commenter on Gizmodo wrote an insightful entry. Jump for more.
halfthought :
This isn’t a really accurate picture of the Chinese web infrastructure at all. I’ve spent a bit of time studying in China, and have done some volunteer work their, as well as being born their and living their for four years. Hope that doesn’t classify me as a brainwashed commie in your book.
Basically, the information they’ve collected means that it was.
a)Banned at some point in time, not necessarily now. For instance, while every single outlet of western news was blocked during the Xinjiang riots, many were subsequently reopened. Outlets like washington post, BBC, NYTIMES simply are NOT blocked.
b)The blocking they use is far from an absolute block. First of all, most of the technical work is left to the duties of individual ISP providers. What the ISP chooses to block, when regarding things less controversial (like Apple.com), is incredibly inconsistent. Their is no ISP out their that currently blocks all those websites at the same time right now.
c)For some reason, the actual block itself isn’t always a block. Depending on the subject matter, often, instead of a block, your just going to get decreased speeds, which are annoying, but do not break the service.
Finally, I’d like to address something else. This is Propaganda. The extent to which the Chinese government uses propaganda and data manipulation to control the country is often frightening, and in extreme amounts. But propaganda doesn’t have to stem from the government. Anything that factually misrepresents the factual data in the attempt to sway popular opinion is propaganda. In a sense, everything is propaganda.
I’m not trying to defend China’s censorship. But keep in mind, this, like anything you read, contains Bias. The list effectively draws our attention to the glaring Censorship issues in China, but it is propaganda. Not all propaganda is the kind you read about, Giant posters praising the Great Chairman. And propaganda doesn’t have to be negative, it can draw our attention to important problems. But it is propaganda. It completely misses the point of the actual internet in China.
Whats my point? Well, basically just to try to keep an open mind to everything you read, yet remain skeptical, lest you end up the very thing you hate, and try not to be so quick to judge based on a single source alone, contrary to our human nature.
But supporting free speech is great 
. Go for it.
[from Gizmodo]
