A reminder that giving the government the power to control what people can see is dangerous and must be opposed.
Most websites from free countries are blocked in Communist China, particularly news/media sites.
A few exceptions to that had been the Washington Post and the Guardian.
But now, both of those sites are blocked as well.
Additionally, Wikipedia has been blocked in the Communist State since May.
As noted by the South China Morning Post, the trend in China has been towards more censorship, not less:
“China’s internet censors rarely, if ever, communicate their reasoning for blocking specific websites, and it is not clear whether the latest ban on the newspapers will be permanent. Although authorities intermittently tighten and loosen their restrictions, the trend since 2013 has shown more and more foreign websites being irrevocably added to China’s blacklist.
Outlets such as Bloomberg, The New York Times, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal have been blocked for years. So have social media services such as Facebook and Twitter and all Google-owned services, including YouTube. Other popular services such as Dropbox, Slack and WhatsApp are also prohibited.
International business lobbies, media freedoms groups and Western government officials – including US trade negotiators – say the “Great Firewall” amounts to a restriction not only on speech but also fair practice.”
This is a warning that should be heeded by all of us in countries like Canada, where the corrupt elites are pushing for the government to have the power to shut down social media and restrict the internet.
The government will never stop at just ‘controversial’ or ‘offensive’ content, the crackdowns and restrictions always get extended over and over again, until almost nothing except government-approved propaganda remains.
Free speech and free expression must be defended. Communist China must be seen as a warning of what to avoid, not as an example to follow.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
