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© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.China slams U.S. criticism of Internet controls
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tclh
It just proves that China is not confident enough to give its people Wetern style freedom of speech for FEAR of losing its wealth and power. At least the party thinks that current system is working well for China: strict on law and order with severe punishments, maintaining the party's right -to -govern, choosing and picking all good fruits from the West while leaving rubbish behind...until the day when no more good fruits to be picked, disasters will start. At that time chinese leaders will regret for not allowing freedom of speech, which can act as a pressure valve, to its people.
HonestDictator
I dunno what you mean Fukuokajin, but it is a parent's responsiblity to take care of their child and teach morality to their children, not the government. The government's duty is to educate the children with basic knowlege so they will be productive in the future. The censorship in China isn't just about porn if you haven't realised. Its a restriction on any kind of criticism of the government or even the society.
Beside, there is a neat little function that comes with all Windows OS and probably Macs that allows any PC user to adapt access to what they do or do not want to be allowed on their computers. If that is such a burden to the parents as you put it, then why should the government be put in charge of making decisions for the parents? I call that laziness. Businesses in the US know how to use it so their employees don't go to questionable sites while at work.
As I said, the people in China need to be allowed to voice their opinions without fear of being marked a dissident, rebel, rabble rouser, etc just because they want to comment on something or see something that influences new ideas or perspectives in thinking.
TheQuestion
Did you just compare child pornography to having the ability to watch a fat guy fall over on youtube?
Kwaabish
yawn.... China slamming or blasting criticism?
Like they listen or adhere to international norms.....
yosun
The problem of the US politics is that businessmen actually control the country, through Senators & Congressmen, we could say all policies of the US government are first shaped in some technologies/ enterprises and later finalized in Senate/ Congress. Google is no doubt quite a boss of some US policies!
apecNetworks
The reason it has to be the Federal Govt. is the censorship works in squads of 6 multiples, and the equipment I am familiar w/ was used during the Cold War.
apecNetworks
This might sound naive, but.....
"His remarks follow those made by the U.S. secretary of state, who in a speech Thursday criticized countries engaging in cyberspace censorship,....."
Is the U.S. Secretary of State saying that there is no internet censorship in the US. If so, someone in the Fed better come here, b/c I have been subjected to governmental pressures (authorized/unauthorized?) on the US WestCoast. Hi Tech pressures, but pressure nonetheless. US is a superpower, so questioning US policies is not allowed?
ShonanMaruNo2
China needs Google more than Google needs China.
lostrune2
fukuokajin,
I don't want to put all the burden on the parents, but at the same time, I don't want to ban everything on sight (different parents will always find something offensive on anything). Parents do have to shoulder most of the burden though - it's just part of parenting. That way, different parents having differing morals (e.g. what's innocent to some is porn to others) can raise their kids according to their own, within legal limits.
michaelqtodd,
So no new China development then? Just watered down versions (inevitable when there's state censorship) of what others already developed. Waiting for the day a development there sets the techweb world on fire (of course, the China government would not allow that because that would mean loss of their control).
m5c32
It's not about protecting people from the evils of porn. (It's a nice excuse, mind you). It's about controlling information which would reflect badly on the gov't apparatus.
It's an attempt at controlling people via information control. They want to be the gatekeeper and font of information for public consumption. Get it?
michaelqtodd
Just watched an interesting story about this on CNN. Says Baidoo has 60% of Chinese language search market and that QQ the Chinese version of Facebook has around 350 million users. They also have their own You Tube and I read recently that Microsoft has initiated a Chinese microblogging site very similar to Twitter
fukuokajin
Internet inside China is not as undeveloped as you think. Quite the opposite. Check for example
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/01/22/china.internet.companies/index.html
Why do you want to put such a burden on the parents? By same logic, do you think all laws limiting distribution of any kind of material anywhere (e.g. on the streets) should be banished, as it is up to parents to guard their children? I would prefer to live in a world where children can have some degree of freedom (don't need to be under 24/7 surveillance) without having to worry about things like execution videos or harcode porn that are currently only a couple of clicks away on the internet.
m5c32
Oh, I dunno, I think most Chinese would be searching for Chinese information in Chinese. RED HERRING.
That means absolute number of internet users --true.
That's the crux of it. They do not want the dissemination of any communication which would differ from what is produced by the government organs. They want full control of information, or at least, its dissemination. "ALL BASE ARE BELONG TO THEM."
Google, open that firehose of information for the common Chinese.
Let people search for Government Corruption, Industrial Incidents, Toxins (lead, melamine, etc.), Fa lun gong (法輪大法), Tiananmen Sq (六四事件), Police Brutality, Relocation, Democracy, Tibet, Taiwan, Dalai Lama, etc. if they want to.
lostrune2
There's hardly any significant internet development in China. When's the last time a new internet-related idea has come out of China? On the contrary, many of their people are blinded from new developments like Twitter and public streaming sites. In that case, it's more like in the dark ages. China just uses what other people have developed, after watering it down.
fukuokajin,
Just because "porn" is the 4th most common search term among kids does not automatically mean they will get it. A properly-managed computer environment by parents or parental-control software should be treated like any other regular parenting protocol.
fukuokajin
American "freedom of speech"-idiots are not much better... Internet is just one facet of the society in general, so why should the normal rules/laws not apply there? If you distribute porn to children on the streets in the USA, you will probably end up in jail. If you do the same on the internet, it's ok?
Check e.g. this report: http://onlinefamilyinfo.norton.com/articles/kidsearches_2009.php
Among children that are 7 years or younger, "porn" is the 4th most common search term.
I root for China on this one. Hopefully at least some European countries will follow suit sooner or later. Italy already seems to be doing something:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_hi_te/eu_italy_google_censorship
One has to be rather simple-minded to think that the only options are the extremeties of a US-style "everything goes"-idiocy or totalitarian "nothing goes"-oppression.
PoolofZen
Yes, Rickyso you are right. Think of a world over-run by communism and dictatorships... what paradise.
HonestDictator
China's government is full of ****, they think they have the right to control their peoples thoughts and ideas.
michaelqtodd
Well there goes about 95% of the internet where ideas and information is spread right there.China is a special case though with change happening very rapidly and a huge number of people to keep under "control"
rickyso
haha, USA is a bigger joke, look at the mess they have done to the world
SuperLib
Did I miss the "stinging" and "slamming" part? Seems that the media likes to play up these squabbles between the US and China. This is more or less the typical response you'd expect to get from the Chinese.
thepro
Haha, China is a joke