In the United States, every child, teenager and adult uses Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook, among numerous other sites, regularly. The internet is open and uncensored for the most part, other than parental controls. In China, most, if not all of those types of sites are or have been blocked. As in, you could not go to them, unless you found some way around the web filters and firewalls the Chinese government runs in their country. While China defends their practice of internet censorship, based on “protecting” the people, heavy internet censorship is a block to free speech and impedes economic and social development in the 21st century.
China says it has its reasons for censoring its internet. Wang Chen, minister for the State Council Information Office, defends China’s position, stating, “There is an ever-increasing need to ‘guide public opinion’ on the Chinese Internet.”(McCabe) Government reasoning is the prevalence of porn, fraud, and “rumor-mongering.” He also states that this is something that the Chinese people want.
China has already taken steps towards controlling the internet. In July of 2009 China cut internet and cell phone service in much of Xinjiang province in response to civil unrest that the government says was organized over the internet. Paul Mozur (a reporter for the International Herald Tribune) states, “To pull the plug on the internet for 20 million of its citizens is not simply bad policy, it’s a violation of human rights.”
To further that end, China has recently introduced new regulations. China has introduced new regulations that force anyone who wants to host a website must meet in person with government officials and provide personal identification. Reporters Without Borders, a free speech...
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Internet is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and interact with others all over the world conveniently and relatively safely. It has allowed education and trade to be accessed easily and quickly, but all these benefits do not come without very taxing costs. This is especially true when dealing with the likes of the Internet. Countries in the European Union and Asia have realized this and have taken action against the threat of net neutrality to protect their citizens, even at the cost of online privacy. Internet censorship is required to protect us from our opinions and vices. Every country should adopt Internet censorship and regulation since it improves society by reducing pornography, racism/prejudice, and online identity theft.
Abstract: This paper examines the use of Internet technologies (specifically SafeWeb.com) to counteract invasions of personal privacy and censorship. The paper begins by exploring the methods by which governments, corporations, and commercial agents invade personal privacy. It also discusses Internet censorship on the corporate and governmental levels. It then proceeds to discuss SafeWeb.com, a technology that allows Internet users to surf the Web privately and view censored content. The paper finishes by exploring some of the ethical issues raised by Internet privacy and censorship in specific relation to SafeWeb, concluding that the application of SafeWeb in circumventing the authority of governments and corporations is inherently unethical.
Naik, Abhijit. “Internet Censorship Pros and Cons.” Buzzle. Buzzle, 25 Nov. 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .
McCarthy, M. (2005). THE CONTINUING SAGA OF INTERNET CENSORSHIP: THE CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT. Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, (2), 83-101.
As of the year 2010, Google battle with the Chinese government over Internet censorship has drawn increased international attention to media system in the country. The conflict between Google and Chinese government is mainly because of the different media systems that serve in the United States and China. Basically, the media system consists of different types of communications media, such as television, Newspapers, Internet, books and other new media (Ipad, smartphones). Chinese media system differs from that of the United States is up to the very different regimes and social conditions that can be analyzed in four aspects: Ownership and national culture of media, laws and regulations, attitude towards foreign media.
Thornton, P., (ed.) (2010), ‘Censorship and Surveillance in Chinese Cyberspace: Beyond the Great Firewall’ In Gries, P. H., and Rosen, S., (eds) Chinese Politics (London and New York: Routledge).
Xu, Beina. "Media Censorship in China." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
" Time for the Supreme Court to End FCC Indecency Censorship. " The Huffington Post. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012.
Since the WTO never defined “public interest” or “national security” in means of limiting their own states network, this leaves full rain for China (Mengin73). World community through the WSIS in both Geneva and Tunis had deemed both the United States and China are correct in the realm of Internet governance (Saleem 328).
Most of the Internet regulation is imposed by the Government in an effort to protect the best interest of the general public and is concerned with some form of censorship.
The Internet is an extremely educational and communicative tool. Everyone can access a tremendous amount of information and connect with people on the other end of the planet; it is capable of doing everything. Nowadays, the society is facing a variety of challenges and controversies which are mostly related to religion, morality, the economic crisis, etc., and the most talked-about issue in today’s world is “Internet censorship”. Although the Internet is very useful, many people are suggesting the idea of censoring the Internet; however, the government should not censor the Internet because a free and open Internet usage has many positive impacts on people’s lives.
Interests: China’s leaders desire to improve their nation’s economy while preserving political stability. They want to censor political discussions to prevent “westernization” of China,