May 6th, 2004

Censorship in China

After attempting to shut down or censor most of its cyber cafe’s, China has launched another effort to shut down cybercafes “because of fears that the Net could corrupt the minds of youngsters….”

“We must take utmost resolutions and make utmost efforts in the clean-up campaign to achieve our anticipated goal, for Internet cafe management has an important bearing on the healthy growing of juveniles.” … As if to prove a point, Xinhuanet cites the tragic case of two youths who were crushed to death by a train when they fell asleep on a railway track after spending 48 hours in a cybercafe. … He cites the case of a 19-year old who, after surfing the next for five to six hours everyday for five years who had come to believe that “invisible pairs of eyes in cyber-space were peeping at him and examining him all the time”
Of course the real reason China bans uncensored internet access is obvious:
“They have brought great harm to the mental health of teenagers and interfered with the school teaching, which has aroused strong reactions from the public.”
Translated from newspeak, that means “interfered with the indoctrination of communist propaganda, which arouses strong fear within the Communist Party.”

2 Responses to “Censorship in China”

  • Yes, govt censorship is bad. But we should also be concerned about American
    university teachers in China who suppress open debate: http://urielw.com/bosco.htm

  • I’ve been trying for several years to promote the use of two-way satellite dishes for
    everyone in the world including internet access from internet cafes in China and other
    countries in Asia. Maybe China are blocking access, I don’t see any Chinese enquiries.
    Best regards, Eric.

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