Apple Watch Controversy

Not only that, but his use of the word “censorship” has a negative connotation because unlike words like “sanitation” or “deletion”, it implies that the government of China is doing wrong by omitting media. His apparent credibility coaxes the reader into believing that his predictions about the internet are correct, meanwhile his adverse word choice causes the reader to give second thoughts about the grandeur of the

Censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. There are good reasons why censorship is used, such as some information might have to be censored for the content it might display and which in turn might cause a disturbance in peace. Countries try not abuse the fact they are allowed to do this because they are the ones who create the rules. However, China is abusing this fact and has been doing it to the point people are fearing what they can post or use on the internet. This issue was brought up in recent years because it has many different types of medians that were found in the New York Times. Firstly, the discussion

China today still follows a similar style of governing by blocking websites, altering news and punishing scholars (Buckley). In addition, due to the concealment of information citizens of China are living life in ignorance (Buckley). These actions might jeopardize the prosperity of China in the future just as it did during the Qin Dynasty. Ceasing media censorship now in China may benefit their society in the years a head due to all of the conflict in the apparent world around

Their system of filtering and censorship is acknowledged as the most advanced and effective in the world. The Chinese internet system includes about thirty-thousand censors, as well as having web browsers, such as Google and Yahoo, censor their results.10 For an average citizen to publish their opinions without either an elite free speech patron or a willing government publishing house, the safest method is to publicize their thoughts through an internet bulletin board system run by the Chinese government.11 However, these electronic bulletin boards are required by the law to be licensed, the posts monitored constantly, and any posts which are found to be “inappropriate” are removed. Any forums that are free from government censorship are forbidden, since the Chinese authorities refuse to recognize the rights of the citizens to publish their uncensored opinions. Furthermore, if debates over political or other issues begin to take a life of their own, they are commonly silenced by Chinese authorities.12 The Chinese authorities only permit these monitored bulletin boards both for their own benefit and because they recognize that there must be outlets for the average person to express their dissatisfaction with the government.13 Allowing the citizens to speak their mind functions to lessen the political tension, by acting as a release for their discontentment. These boards also serve as an excuse to deflect criticism by other countries, who complain that people in China do not enjoy freedom of expression. Additionally, they allow government authorities to monitor the mood of their people and to find weaknesses, both in the government and in their support. Finally, the bulletin boards allow government authorities to track those who express discontent, keeping their expressions visible, so the authorities can trace these

When one uses the internet in China, the person must always understand… he or she is being watched. In China, over 100,000 government enforcers work to censor or block unwanted information from Chinese and foreign websites. Much of this information being shot down includes talk of democracy, the very opposite of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideas. Censorship of internet and media in China has been brought by its Communist government who have wanted to shield the Chinese people from undesired ideas, such as democracy, that could start a large revolt of citizens demanding government reforms. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China after he and his Communist supporters defeated the nationalists, beginning a new era for China of strict totalitarian rule. When Mao died in 1976, the country was left in ruins from Mao’s failed plans. A new leader, Deng Xiaoping, emerged and made reforms allowing open-market capitalism in the economy that changed China into a powerful country. Yet, Deng stayed with a totalitarian government that still had harsh crackdowns such as the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Massacre and today censorship law. Some may argue that it is necessary the Chinese government continue to censor foreign websites and information in order to ensure the public’s safety and trust. Although the Chinese government states that censorship is necessary to ensure citizens’ safety, it will threaten the country’s future success because it constricts

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.

China is one of the most controlled countries in the world. The Chinese constitution states that the people of China have freedom of speech, of the press, and of demonstration. However, this article in the constitution also states that the Chinese government has the authority to censor anything in the country when freedom of speech or of press could potentially be harmful to the country. So, in China, you are free to speak, but only about what the government says is okay to talk about. Also, protesting in China is a very dangerous task, as shown in the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. But, in August 2009, Chinese Internet users were able to “indefinitely postpone” the use of censorship software on all new computers in China, called the

It brings into question about how much freedom the population of China bears with respect to their ability of not being able to portray and delude views and beliefs through social media. Which can be examined on a Chinese microblog, where 16% of the messages have been deleted, from the 1.3 million to be investigated. Most of them being politically driven against the current state. (Bamman, O’Connor, Smith 2012) The censorship brings the ideology of freedom right to the fore as defined,’ The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants’.

In Egypt we saw the blocking of Twitter and Facebook happen; this seemed all too common and even fueled the emotion driven actions of the people not only of Egypt, but in Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and even into China later on. We saw countries pay their way out of the Arab Spring, block social media, and force propagandized local and international news. In the book The Dictator’s Learning Curve by William J. Dobson, there is a chapter where he visits China during the Arab Spring and states that CNN was blocked throughout China to stop any threats, and to stop the Chinese citizens from seeing the outside world with the current situation unfolding. Dobson talks about in his book how on edge some of the governments were when he was visiting; stating that Omar Afifi had several cell phones at which he could be contacted on and skype where officials kept him informed about the unfolding uprisings in Egypt.

In the article entitled “China Congress: How authorities censor your thoughts,” it evaluates how the Chinese government has high control over the thoughts and actions of their citizens. In other words, China, being the communist country they are, authorizes the control of the media and does not allow certain things to be expressed, such as “a message featuring the name of this country's ever-more-powerful leader and his sometimes-used nickname Winnie the Pooh” would not go through. This censorship does not only affect social media platforms but extends almost everywhere, from Tv programs to texting, acting and to the press. Citizens in China aren't even safe with their very own texting device, WhatsApp, as it is monitored and “reported to relevant authorities due to new regulations”.

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.

Systematic governmental censorship is by no means a new phenomenon, nor is it one that commenced with the internet. However, as governments have realised the internet’s immense, and potentially disruptive, power censorship has risen to new levels. In order to contextualise this, and comprehensively understand why such things occur, it is necessary to first present the statistics of internet censorship, and identify the worst offenders. Therefore, it should come as little surprise that, though slightly under one third of the world’s population now has access to the internet, this access is by no means equitably or comparably distributed (Warf 2011, p.2). Rather predictably, in countries controlled by repressive and dictatorial governments, internet censorship is significantly more prevalent than in major democratic nations (Warf 2011, p.2). North Korea, China, and to a lesser extent India, are perhaps the most notable and rampant, though by no means the only, offenders (Khanna, Dhingra & Choudhary 2013, p.2695). This thereby serves predominantly to reinforce already repressive systems, and continue the cycle, thus stifling democratic progress.

Google’s policy of self-censorship in China did not sit well with the public or human rights organizations.

Admittedly, the Internet did not exist during these times, but both past regimes recognized outlets that had the greatest influence on the people and quickly moved to censor them, whether it was television, literature, movies, or art. Similarly, the Internet today has enormous influence over the countries’ respective populations. Furthermore, neither Russia nor China has transitioned to a fully functioning liberal democracy. Therefore, it is not surprising that the both governments have moved to censor, or regulate, the Internet.

The United States government places high importance on the openness of the Internet and media in general. It is a way of modernization and healthy competition for those who seek to enhance their personal globalization. Unlike the United States, China does not place significance on globalization for fear of revolt against their