231 Erwin Road

My experiences as a Northern transplant down in Chapel Hill, NC, 2005. And now my experiences back up in NYC.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Censoring of Chinese blogs

The BBC has an article of Microsoft censoring Chinese blogs.

The article doesn't point a finger at Microsoft (and neither do I) but I wanted to use this post to raise awareness of just what type of censorship goes in China. They are blocking words such as freedom, democracy, and demonstration. If you're post contains one of these words, a warning pops that reads "This message contains a banned expression, please delete this expression."

How wrong is that? I don't place blame on the MS's or the Google's or the Yahoo's of the world that allow these censors and filters to be placed on the internet. They don't have a choice, they have little power to negotiate with the Chinese Gov't (the Chinese could always rebuild the services inhouse.) I'd rather these companies offer this service then not offer it all. Hopefully, some smarter individuals will find loop holes and ways around these filters. I think the internet is democrazing, even when censored. I believe it offers a lot of avenues to break down traditional rules, processes, and mis-conceptions.

5 Comments:

  • At 6/14/2005 1:02 PM, Blogger eirishis said…

    Vinnie, I'm 100% with you. Just as the blogosphere and expansion on non-traditional media in general have improved American democracy (I'll argue this until I'm blue in the face), hopefully they can spread the good word abroad as well. Of course, there is always the negative potential of expanded communication (see: terrorist's expert use of the internet to spread both their Message and tactical messages). But overall, I think you are on path.

     
  • At 6/14/2005 6:05 PM, Blogger Roonie said…

    That's horrible. I think blogging is one of the most revolutionary things to happen to freedom of speech. I can't possibly imagine it being restricted based on account of mere wordage.

     
  • At 6/16/2005 12:44 PM, Blogger Roonie said…

    Okay, it's Thursday. I would've expected at least two more posts by now. Hop to it, damnit!

     
  • At 6/16/2005 3:49 PM, Blogger eirishis said…

    Vin, seriously. What gives?

     
  • At 6/17/2005 1:00 AM, Blogger Roonie said…

    COME BACK DAMNIT!

     

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