The Issues and Reasons of Electronic Censorship in China

Censorship makes sense in relation to some areas of the world For example, a television show might be censored so as to not show explicit material such as nudity and/or violence and gore Beside the fact that this is the most common type of censorship, there are others as well, In China, censorship has gotten to the point of being too extreme to some people‘s views. Others believe that said censoring is perfectly fine for the country and should be enforced In this case the censorship is based solely upon antigovernment sentiment.

The type of censorship is electronic, mostly messaging and phone conversations, and is getting to be more severe China‘s government, although ruled by a communist party, seems to be overstepping their boundary into what is supposed to be easily accessible and universalt The main reason for the censoring is due to revolting.

As Sharon LaFraniere puts it, the revolts were against the government of China which ricocheted through the Middle East and North Africa as well and led up to homegrown efforts to organize protests that began to circulate on the internet (1), One example of the censorship that recently happened to take place was a Chinese man was on the phone and happened to speak the English word “protest.

” One can easily see why this particular word would be targeted for this kind of censorship by the government of China. Given this situation, one may argue this case as being completely rational based off the fact that China is indeed run under communism.

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The word was spoken and the conversation carried on until the word was spoken again; the conversation was disconnected immediately and cut short The same thing happened again to another Chinese individual who had spoken the same word except this time in Chinese.

Again, the over<the<phone discussion was diminished instantly, leaving the individual oblivious to what had just happened. I find this to be a major problem with the way China’s government is handling this specific situation. They have no authorization to perform such a task. If the people of China find the need to speak freely about their government, I’m sure I speak for many when I say “so be it.” Even though their government feels the need to police them by using censorship, they do not need to be so extreme as to cut what people say right out of the air and end it completely What would come next, ending every conversation immediately just because it is “somewhat” linked to an “attack” on said government? If that were to carry on I certainly would feel constricted and as if I were being watched or spied on I‘m sure that with this kind of censorship some of these people, if not most, feel like they are in that exact situation and feeling the same way The censoring has even gone as far as comprising a large list of banned words or keywords that are blocked in the country.

LaFraniere mentions no one may use the search engine “Google” to look up the English word “freedom” (2) That has been going on for roughly six months or so and is shocking to say the least as the internet is supposed to be used for looking up whatever a user pleasesi The United States has a wide range of access to Chinese websites in comparison, There are news sites that are easily accessible to the U.S, which is the exact opposite in terms of US. news sites available to the people of China. Censoring online sites in China has been in practice since mid-2008, One might say that these repressions are completely acceptable; however, I believe that everyone has the right to look up whatever they feel the need to search online, Individuals may argue that these issues are perfectly normal given that the country is under a communist party yet that should not prevent them the freedom of speech and online media that they seem to be lacking.

The fact that the citizens of China are constantly denied their access to the world’s knowledge and media appears to be a severe problem and despised by most The reasons behind the censoring are somewhat clear, however they do not make too much sense. Luisetta Mudie claims, “they are doing everything they can to stop people” (1). It is pretty obvious why this is occurring; the Chinese government does not want information being leaked into the country regarding the outside worldithat is the US. and other nations. One way to possibly combat this would be to open secure networks that allow access to these “unsecure” or censored materials. However, this suggestion could have legal issues in and of itself. While it would be an easy way to circumvent data online, it would possibly cause a stir-up with the already intense government the people are being forced to deal with.

It is quite possible that this solution has already been put into effect, and also has probably been shut down Some people may even be looking for possible solutions as we speak, Arguing against this, one might say that if a possible solution were to surface, it would be immediately taken down This should not discourage people because if one were to look at that negativity, no future solutions would be made in fear of them being immediately terminated. It is the persistence that moves one’s efforts forward, Mudie also states, the citizen’s personal rights, such as the right to free speech and to vote, are all frequently taken from them (2). The United States has also been known for censoring some material to its citizens This being the case, one might refute that against what is being argued with China. The US. has never had the censorship levels close to those of China.

Although the government thinks its actions are justifiable for censoring its country, it is seen by many others as unjust and irrational. There looks as though such technology to bypass China’s censoring is in existence or in the works According to Judson Berger, “The US. government has figured out how to bust through lnternet censorship filters in order to deliver news and other vital information via e-mail to people in countries like China” (1) This type of technology, although not available to the public thus far, is the ideal solution for the censoring problem in China, The technology can be used to browse the internet just as if it were completely uncensored. There are still things to work out though, “It is unclear how well the technology will work when it opens to the public”, Berger notes (1).

While it may not be ready for a public release, this technology is a very good sign for the people of China who want to roam the internet freely While it may seem that the way technology works and exactly what it does is illegal, it has just as much reason to exist as the government itself. It causes no problems for anyone as they are getting what they desire. However, the government has no room to complain given they have no authority over the technology being manufactured China‘s government has really cracked down on its citizens’ use of electronic communication and research, One cannot even search for the simplest of terms without it being forced away from them by means of suppression. The people of China have been dealing with this problem for quite a few years.

Results from such a situation have led to riots and protests against the government itself. A person not being able to speak freely is the main conflict behind it all, It may seem as if the people have themselves to blame for rioting in the first place. That probably would not have happened if their government wasn’t run by a communist party to begin with The only thing holding back the Chinese citizens from the news, knowledge, and information they so desire is the censorship that they are and have been restricted by. In order for everything to move in the right direction, either the government needs to ease up on the censoring and give the people a little more freedom as their rights entail, or the citizens under restriction from said censoring will continue to find new ways to circumvent the information they so wish to attain