China, Google and Internet censorship

[KZ]

In light of recent events made public by Google and the Chinese government, given how the choices made about filtering content in the search engine for mainland China users has been, apparently, suspended by Google, ostensibly making a principle stand, what are your thoughts on this sitation in particular, and Internet censorship in general (or other examples, like Australians thinking of introducing similar censorpship to the Chinese, effetcively targeting child pornography and aggresively radical view propagation websites)?

[SmartyPants]

I praise Google for leaving China.  Google and I believe that the government shouldn't control the media in any form.  Also, China's hackers tried to break into gmails from human rights groups. I hope companies like microsoft don't sell out and agree to have censorships on its search engine.


Who is to decide what is "aggresively radical view propagation"?  That seems like the government has too much control.
Always block child pornography.

[Zackirus]

I also agree with Google leaving China. A government should have no competle control (but they can regulate it) over the media. I used to have a friend who used to live in China and she who would say the only thing true they said on the news was the date. Almost Everything, could not be trustsed to be true.

Google even has its own safety bar which can be turned up or off depending who you are, so its the people's choice to view that sort of stuff. I'm not saying that I support it but its the people's choice to look it up. The Government has no say in the matter.

[Presentiment]

It isn't as if any Chinese will actually care about Google leaving their country.

It hasn't been proven whether China was in fact behind the attacks.

You can have your ideology and China can have theirs.

Most Chinese use Baidu.

[SmartyPants]

It hasn't been proven whether China was in fact behind the attacks.

Yes, it is possible the Mexicans wanted to hack into the gmails of Chinese human rights groups. 

[Presentiment]

Yes, even if it isn't likely...

It could easily have been done to frame China for the attacks, by a country/group/person who had an interest in seeing Google pull out.

For all we know, it might even be Google, so they had a good excuse to pull out.

[CraigStern]

For all we know, it might even be Google, so they had a good excuse to pull out.

Could be. That would be a strangely immoral way to go about achieving the moral goal of ending censorship.

[Presentiment]

That depends on whether you see censorship as moral or not.

[KZ]

All in all though, this is a tricky situation those who are not directly connected to will probably never know the truth of. It is not unimaginable that Google can pull of such a stunt- the PR element is certainly there, but then again, Chinese hackers going for anything important isn't unheard-of either (like the Russian hackers back in the 90s).   Another good example of guesswork is that climate e-mails scandal late last year- not exactly evident, who did the deed, yet there were quite a few interested parties and it isn't exactly unfeasible that, say the Russian government had a gentle helping hand in that hack- environment is somwhere at the bottom of the pile for money-spending desires in Russia these days.

Still, where does one draw the line in censorship?

[Zackirus]

That line can never been drawn by a collective or government, what a person does in their bedroom is not of the governments concern. The line on censorship can only be drawn by you, and only you. I believe that people should be able to control most of their lives without government interference. That's why I hate socailists so much because they stick their noes into business and peoples, and those are areas where politics does not belong.

At least that's what I think.

[Zhampir]

I agree with Zickirus mostly, but there are things (i.e. child pornography) that should not be allowed to exist.

[SmartyPants]

I agree with Zickirus mostly, but there are things (i.e. child pornography) that should not be allowed to exist.

Ahh...I am pretty sure that Zickirus didn't take a pro-child pornagraphy stance.

[Zackirus]

Its Not 'Zickirus' its Zackirus . I don't support child pornagraphy, I'm simply said that if somone wishes to view that then it is on their own heads and not the government's.

[Presentiment]

Well that's really an original way to look at it...

[Zackirus]

Well that's really an original way to look at it...

"What people do in their bedroom's is not the concern of the government" Pierre Trudeau 1967

Note: He was the Prime Minister of Canada