China has a communism, so the government of China has a huge web blocker that blocks sites that talk about Democracy and others to prevent the Chinese people from thinking that they want a free Democracy or other types of government that would lessen the power in the government. This has been going on for a while.
What are your views on this?
Here are some websites that you can read about this:
http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/china-blocks-twitter-and-almost-everything-else/

http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/chinese-history/twitter-flickr-blocked-ahead-of-tiananmens-20th/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

it's an inevitable thing when the country you live in is a dictatorship.

Is it right? Of course not. But is their system all that different? The government controls the dissemination of information. Our MSM does the same thing. They skip over a LOT of news that is happening that you have to find using alternative online sources.

So, while the Chinese system is bad, I don't think it's all that different there than here. Information is filtered before it gets us in some way or another by someone.

They just want to keep the horrors of the world suppressed and to ensure a nice smooth reign for the Chinese government instead of a rebellion. Yes, it is wrong, but it helps in a cruel sort of way.

They do it to help keep their people down and to pretty up their image to the rest of the world. China has the largest army in the world, but they won't be able to suppress the angry populace with fear forever. Eventually it's going to reach a breaking point (assuming WW3 doesn't wipe out 90% of the world before then).

what if that was the start of WW3? China falls into civil war with itself and the world comes to "help".... someone regains power and fights back....

who knows.

Either way the Chinese are starting to figure out that things aren't the way they are told it is. You can't suppress a billion people forever.

I dont know to much about all that communism and government stuff in china. but i have a few friends that i met on myspace that are from china and they told me that they cant get fully on myspace all they can do on myspace is check the mail and they told me myspace is really boring now. which REALLY sucks because i hope i dont loose good friends over that, because i'v known them fore like almost 3yrs.

I think that the chinese government is like my mom, an evil mom, who blocks the internet. But you know deep down inside she's doing it for your own safety. So it's good.

EDIT: The chinese gov. blocks everything from the people so that the people think that the gov. is good.

Just pray to god they don't pull an embargo on USA or WE WILL BE SCREWED. Wal-Mart would flop over faster then a fish out of water Poor china people must suck to have web censored that much.

Well, I went on a holiday back to China, and stayed for a while. It did suck that most of the websites we pretty much live on are censored, but in a way it would be good for you as it would take you away from the computer, and get you doing exercise. But yeah, over long periods, life would be pretty boring, even though things might be kind of peaceful (China-wise).

It is bad for the people in China because how are they going to do research for things and communicate with each other by e-mail if the can't. It is just not right.

In all honesty I think countries that do such things as this is bulls***. People should be able to decide on things that effect there lives, they should be able to have freedom of speech, and be able to view whatever they like. It just doesn't seem right to do this to people. It makes me feel like they are getting treated like animals. When I say this, I also don't just mean China, there are plenty of other countries that are like this, and I find it sad.

I also feel that it is wrong of the Communist government of China to censor the internet in the way that it does, but something that people need to keep in mind is the fact that it is not just things like the internet that is being censored. The Chinese government also does its best to censor the history of China. They do not want people to learn about the life they had before the Communist government took control from any form of media because this would then undermine the government's authority.

It's really hard to decide what sort of filtering and censorship is okay, because different people will argue that different things should be blocked. I think that nothing should be censored, and all people should have access to all types and modes of information. The governments only involvement with the internet should be cracking down on things such as child pornography, when people's safety is at risk, when people's lives are at stake, etc. Other forms of information such as history and current events should be available to everyone. I believe that the internet should be free for all to use as they see fit, as long as it isn't hurting anyone. Things such as pop ups should be illegal though, seeing as how there could be something pornographic or things of the like that pops up that a 10 year old child is not ready to see, which could potentially be harmful to the child and the child's family.

I doubt that many of the people in China even know that there is a blocker...

Vizzed might be blocked there, because vizzed helps spread ideas and let people think for themselves

Yeah, the blocker is a big stab in the back of freedom.

septembern : Alot of people in China know about the censorship as there is a huge underground of users that try and get around it.
A system like theirs is only good for one thing, and that is creating jobs.
The amount of time and manpower it takes to keep a system to censor all information constantly is a huge undertaking.
But dont let it fool you, censorship is in no way a good thing as all it does is remove your rights.
It doesn't even stop pedophiles as they dont even use internet sites for their sick crap.
And it isn't up to any government to monitor what someones children do online, it is up to the parents.
If as a parent you dont want your child seeing porn (which by the way, doesnt happen most times unless the child is looking for things they shouldn't) then use a home based internet filter.
Dont make the rest of us suffer because you are a lazy bad parent.
Trust me, I know all about internet censorship as they are trying to get it put in here in Australia.
The only thing it will do is limit our freedoms and allow the government to decide what we can and cannot view.
And I definately would not trust any government to do what is right for the people, only what is right for themselves and their own ideals.
Which I for one know dont match my ideals.

The government is using it as a pretext for another war. They want to fuse us into a china based censhorship system where we are a low life serial number used to produce cheaply while governments get rich off our hard work. They are planning to kill 75% of the chienses and replace them with machines. War is coming, and we USA will become china... no not just USA the whole world will.

DH's post proves that the censorship cloud cover is already starting because usa is using australia as a trial.

The thing is, is that our country does something *like* it: our mainstream online news sources simply skip over certain stories and shed light on the ones they want us to see. It doesn't mean they're censoring the news, they're just bringing more attention to certain stories.

China is actually blocking stories, facts and other things that they do not like. That's dangerous. And it's irresponsible.

Hmmm... this is an interesting one. It has been in the news a lot, and Google's withdrawal from China was definitely an awkward situation, but just because a situation makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean you have to back out. To play the devil's advocate here, look at it from the people in China's perspective. Assuming that most of the people here are under teenagers or younger, you might not even be able to know if your information is being censored. For all we know, the world could be in chaos while all we get is happy stuff about Justin Bieber and "we don't say German in America" (I know that this is a terrible example, but I'm pretty brain dead right now and I don't know what else to say). And for most of the people out there, (please don't flame me for this) the Chinese government is just doing what they think is right. Sure, we don't think it's right-- I personally think that robbing a person of the right to information is one of the worst things you can do to them, but everyone and thing has flaws. Looking through these comments, there is an insane amount of bias in this. Most people here are speaking from a point of view despite never being in, visiting, or living in China (if you have, I'm sorry). I hate to be the person who goes against the crowd, but some of the things people are saying about China are not factually correct. The Chinese government is not attempting to take over America, they have no reason to and it would take more effort than reward to do so. Anyways, China is no longer officially a Communist government (I know the officially changes a lot). China is not trying to convert the world to Communism; that is why it is called the "People's REPUBLIC of China", not "Communist Stereotypical China as Classified by American Gamers". Yes, it is entirely wrong and cruel to have a blocker on the entire internet on the pretense for blocking Porn, but they way it is phrased here, China is attempting to enslave its people and the world, and most people don't even have their facts right. In conclusion, (love that phrase) the blocking is true and real (if you Google(d) "Tianmen Square", the only website you would get is the official tourist website. There was/is nothing about the massacre over 20 years ago). However, I think we should get our facts straight before we set out to flame an entire country.

I am not a communist. If anyone flames me for this post, I'm sorry, but I'm merely expressing my beliefs. That's what this forum is for, isn't it?