The Worstall Article: Strategy To End Censorship Of The Internet

Censorship in China has gained much attention recently because of the conflict between Google and the Chinese government’s self-censorship policies. In fact, censorship has been practiced since ancient China and the intensity only increases by the years. Nowadays, the most notable measure of censorship is being done on the Internet. More and more restrictions have been put into actions by the Chinese government, which make the life of Chinese Internet users, the Chinese netizens, very inconvenient. With the intensity of censorship increasing and the censoring technology improving, Internet censorship has mainly negative effects on Chinese society.

     For many people, using the Internet has become practically a new way of life, especially for college students and the like.  Various types of information can be accessed at the touch of a button: anything from encyclopedias, to surveys and essays, to articles from magazines, and adult sites.  Anyone who pays for their Internet service is usually offered space for his or her own web page, and even many free services provide space for personal web pages.  All of this available space can be used for any number of reasons: posting newsletters for community groups, advertising for businesses, or just voicing one’s opinion.  For those of us who know how to use this information, or at least how

It is easier now more than ever for terrorist groups to recruit within the borders of the U.S. via social media and the Internet. The danger of this increased power calls for action against this online recruitment, but such counteraction becomes tricky when considering how this government interference intersects with freedom of speech. Thus, the bigger issue is put on the table: based on freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, how far can the government go regarding monitoring Internet content? In response, we ought to say that based on our rights, the government only has the authority to monitor content when legitimate crimes and terrorist propaganda or communication is involved.

Corporations that move into China have long recognized that internet censorship is a fact of life. In 2006,

One of the most common problems and seemingly the most known is China’s struggle with internet censorship. “As long as there has been internet, China has sought to

Murdoch (2013) opines the Internet as an entity where control is always fought over for by those that use it. He further demystifies the internet, breaking it down to the two protocols that define it. These are the transmission control protocol – TCP- and the Internet Protocol –Ip. It is these protocols that enable the connection of two separate networks to each other. The protocols enable the easy connection of separate networks, without the need to make the hardware in the networks the same. It also enables restriction abstraction, where networks can be interoperable irrespective of the underlying architecture. It is important to note that the protocols are not the product of a bug;

We live in the age of information, a world that has now been largely digitalized. The World Wide Web is the central component of our era, as it allows people across the globe to share and receive information in an instance. It used to take months before a letter from China could reach the U.S, now it just takes a second with E-Mail. This fast pace information processing has allowed human society to move forward with unprecedented speed, but it also raises many concerns for government authorities. Sharing information is a powerful tool, and too much of it will make any government nervous.

My research project explored the extent of internet censorship and its necessity to China as a form of societal protection. It discussed the advantages, disadvantages and impacts of censorship on Chinese society. As I researched the topic, I determined that censoring parts of the internet was more than just about protecting the young Chinese children from online predators and distressing content. My initial intention was to highlight the wrongfulness of widespread censorship however, as I researched, I was able to understand that censoring parts of the internet improved the Chinese economy, prevented cybercrimes from occurring while concurrently offering online safety. I discovered this by analysing several different websites, YouTube videos and conducting two interviews with people with expertise in the Chinese internet. My outcome, presented in the form of a feature article, explained that censoring parts of the internet benefits society more than it harms.

The government controls much of what we can and can’t do, and also how and when we do it. For instance “taxes”, we all have to pay a certain amount to the government on a specific day where the IRS and their officials can determine how much we have to pay. The state control our cars through smog checks and how fast we can drive on the roads through tickets and fines. When the government has all of this control over us, should we give them more power? A power to control what is allowed to be posted or entered into one of the greatest informational tools in the history of mankind? The answer is simply no; they should not be allowed that power. In the wise words of Benjamin Franklin “those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one” If we give the government the power to censor the internet, we have lost the right for freedom of speech, expression, and other ability’s that we will lose having big brother hold our hand as we navigate through the massive index that is know as the internet.

Google entered China in 2006 with high hopes of taking over the Chinese internet market. In order to become a major player for internet search engines in China, however, they had buckled and filtered search results according to the Chinese government. When Google.cn was launched, a loud public outcry over its giving in to the Chinese government on censoring and filtering search engine results, the company faced a communications crisis. Since Google had always been known for its free thinking, this seemed a vast contradiction. From a communications standpoint, Google’s greatest vulnerability in this crisis lay with a tarnished public image.

The internet is a vast database that allows for the entire world to be connected. However most people while surfing the internet have come across a censored page, or a website saying that this site has been “legally” blocked by the government. Censorship is defined as the suppression or prohibition of free speech by preventing a person from saying what they want to say. Typically in modern society, censorship takes place on the internet when certain items are deemed obscene based upon societal norms. For example, violence in advertising and pornography are often censored because of their indecent content. Although censorship allows for the government to

     From music to television, censorship has played a major role in how the public is exposed to certain material. Now that our world is entering into a new technology era, the Internet is now in the middle of the censorship issue. Internet access is now one of the fastest ways to communicate with others, obtain information on virtually anything, and purchase items without having to leave your home. As more and more people get connected to this cyber superhighway, concern for the content of material has become a big issue. Since so many children are exposed to the Internet, some material should not be accessible with a simple click of a mouse. In order to protect our younger people from being exposed to

When most people think about the internet, they think of it as a super highway system that has the capability to transfer information. The internet grew up to become an expanding source for amusement and intelligence; in a way that we have never seen before. Since there isn't anything like the internet, as more people become more recognized with the internet, the information that surrounds the internet develops as well. Anyone can post ideas about whatever they want at any time of the day. The internet allows us to debate or discuss our personal or social thoughts willingly. With the use of spreading information, without buying additional materials to post information, the internet seemingly grew into the power hub of information. There has been a thriving dispute over whether there should be restrictions to the material we post. Some believe that the internet should be censored, which would have the ability to block any content that is believed to be a danger for society. I believe that some information should be censored like the promotion of weapons and pornography to children, but that should be the parents' issue. Since the internet grew up to be such a huge part of our world, I believe that censoring the internet would create more problems for the future. The internet belongs to everyone, so we should all have the ability to post anything we want to say. Censoring the internet is like having a prison guard monitoring everything you are

With Social Media being still a relatively young form of media, governments and corporations are still attempting to find a way to bring regulations to the internet. Many times, this comes in the form of Internet Censorship. According to IPLocation, internet censorship is when a government institution or organization restricts what is seen on the internet. Wikipedia elaborates on this, stating that many times websites will self-censor. There are several reasons that this practice may take place: to uphold societal norms, to lessen hate speech, to protect from the exploitation of children, to promote a set of religious beliefs, etc. However, this obviously raises ethical questions regarding censorship, and while the government or corporate institutions may argue that these are bans with good intentions, there is no doubt that it can be a detriment as well.

Position: China wants to enforce Google the same level of censorship so that it can appear to the world as an independent and powerful actor in the global marketplace.