Monday, February 1, 2010
Having lived my entire life in the United States, I might never know what it's like to be censored online as heavily as citizens of other countries are. People living in countries like Iran, China, and Burma have their resources and online content filtered by the government so the country's leaders can maintain their agenda of full reign over its people. In cyberspace, the world is literally flat with information and news being updated instantaneously. For Netizens (citizens in nondemocratic countries), this kind of Western technology can expose the truth about what happens inside borders as well as the juicy details of government corruption that could result in social and political change. For the dictatorial government, change out of their power is something to fear. To the people of the country, this change is sometimes a matter of life and death.
Google China was launched in 2006 with the goal of allowing Chinese citizens to surf the web and do business while having some government chosen content blocked online. Among the blocked content are websites or pictures that the Chinese government finds offensive, harmful, or threatening to the country. Americans have access to Twitter, YouTube, all websites on Google as well as Facebook. Chinese citizens don't have access to these kinds of websites because the country has set up a censorship and surveillance firewall called the Great Firewall of China. This firewall blocks many websites and many citizens don't know how to bypass the firewall.According to Amnesty International, there are about 64 people that have been arrested by the Chinese government for peacefully protesting online (Taylor). The government may impose harsh restrictions but soon there might be websites that can bypass the firewall. Citizens from other countries are already trying to bypass the government's rules. Burma engaged in pro-democracy protests and used cell phones to record video to share with the world. Citizen journalists began surreptitiously recording video and taking photos of the public beatings and abuses, transmitting them to the international press via mobile phone ("New Media and Development Communication"). In an Iranian Blog titled "Anonymous Iran, " unidentified writers discuss techniques to use digital devices such as cameras and phones to record violence and brutal killings within their country.
As for YouTube Direct, this website won't be any different than YouTube in my opinion. How will this website help anyone, anyway? Posting videos on YouTube's main website and organizing the video into an Entertainment category, news, sports, and vice versa has always been done. This new YouTube Direct website won't make much of a difference, especially overseas unless this website can bypass government detection and firewalls.
For the Chinese government, websites like Baidu will suffice temporarily and maybe for the long run since the Chinese citizens are under such a harsh strict government. Even with Westerns coaxing for a change, there might not be any lasting impact in the near future.
As for Burma and Iran, maybe there will be change in the near future since cell phones, blogs, and Twitter are exposing harsh realities and living conditions of the citizens in those countries. The government can't keep the "genie in the bottle" because technology is everywhere. Some countries control their citizens as if they are puppets on a stage, but with technology this may not be possible for long. As more people enter cyberspace and contribute vital information, social and political change is within reach. Netizens of nondemocratic countries know this, and so do their harsh governments. As for who will become winners in this technological war , well that is something we shall see in years to come.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited:
Bellovin, Steven. "The New York Times." Can Google Beat China?. 15 01 2010. Web. 1 Feb 2010.
Google/China Flag picture: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/assets/images/2010/01 /22/100122161041_google_china_flag_ap_466.jpg
Google/China Flag picture: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/assets/images/2010/01 /22/100122161041_google_china_flag_ap_466.jpg
"Google and YouTube copies launch in China." guardian.co.uk. 28 01 2010. Web. 1 Feb 2010.
Iranian Blog: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/protest-advice/2658-mobile-camera-live-wifi-distribution.html
Iranian Blog: http://iran.whyweprotest.net/protest-advice/2658-mobile-camera-live-wifi-distribution.html
Lee, Timothy. "The New York Times." Can Google Beat China?. 15 01 2010. Web. 1 Feb 2010.
"New Media and Development Communication." Web. 29 Jan 2010.
Taylor, Richard. "Great Firewall of China." 06 01 2006. Web. 1 Feb 2010.
"New Media and Development Communication." Web. 29 Jan 2010.
Taylor, Richard. "Great Firewall of China." 06 01 2006. Web. 1 Feb 2010.
4 Comments:
Excellent post! The United States also conducts censorship to banned countries: Sudan, Syria, Iran, and North Korea by not allowing any computers sold to these countries to have more than 10% of the components to make the computers sold; thus, software makers like Microsoft and Sun Microsystems software would be excluded. This is contradictory to what our Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated to Google when she cheered them on to fight against China for hacking their system and censorship in December, 2009. Why are we blocking countries that we deem as our enemies from the internet (except for vital national security web content) when we expect China to stop censoring their citizens? In addition, in recent months there has been Chinese government linked hackers trying to get into secure sites for the FBI, and other military secret sites; and therefore why shouldn't China be banned like the other countries, too?
Shahnaz~
Honestly, awesome blog girl! Really great, concise analysis of both the assigned material and your own research. I agree with you 100%... the governments won't change, but the uprising of their people won't stop either.
I really enjoyed your post (probably because we have basically the same point of view on the information). With all of the technological advances that are taking place in the world, it will soon be impossible for non-democratic governments to censor the viewing material of their citizens. People will find a way to perservere. One article I read talked about how people from oppressed countries move to free countries just so they can spread the news of their homeland's oppression. They receive videos and images from their homeland, and they post it to their blogs and websites without any problems (because they now reside in democratic societies). I had not even thought of that strategy until I read this particular article. Operations like this will make it difficult for the government to maintain control. I also loved the visual aids you posted (you will have to let me know how to download a video to my blog -- I've tried to no avail), the video was very informative. Awesome job. Keep up the good work!
This reminds me of a news story I was watching almost an year ago about how journalism was being censored in Sri Lanka, but there was this group of people who got on the radio at a different frequency everyday just to spread the news to both locals and foreign journalists about the civil war. Just goes to show you can't hold people down too long if they know what they're missing (if you don't know, how can you miss it though, right?)
Thanks for dropping by my blog. I'd forgotten it existed ^^ And I'm originally from India, studying in London.. Where in the UK are you from?
And I only write the good stuff when I'm depressed :P
Post a Comment