Oppressive regimes' fear of user-generated content is the strongest evidence around for the value of such sites.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By Erica Naone
This weekend, the Chinese government blocked access within the country to YouTube and a wide variety of websites and news reports related to Tibet, after violence broke out during Tibetan protests against Chinese rule. Although China promised to be more open as part of its campaign to host the Olympic Games, the country's recent actions cast doubt on its ability to move away from its reputation as one of the top blockers of Internet content in the world. As with Burma's Internet crackdown in October, the recent act of censorship seems largely aimed at preventing access to videos and content posted by people on the scene. Web 2.0 tools can seem at times like vehicles for the self-absorbed, but the fear that they inspire in oppressive governments is a powerful demonstration of how useful and vital they can be.
In spite of the ban, there exist some tools, such as the University of Toronto's Psiphon, that can help circumvent Internet censorship. However, Psiphon, displaying both the blessing and the curse of social tools, requires users to gain the tools needed to access censored sites through their social connections.
Comments
weee on 03/19/2008 at 4:31 AM
31
I hope I'm wrong but the only reliable news that will come out of Tibet is likely to be from people being brave enough to film and publish it.
I haven't read any complaints from Google that they've been closed down; will they have to censor content to get back into China?
DJTal on 03/19/2008 at 5:56 AM
112
Why should we support a dictatorship in China which arrests , imprisons , tortures and murders Tibetan Nuns in prison for doing the simple thing of peacefully protesting ?
The recent unrest reveals how frustrated the Tibetan people must be , and it's understandable . The Tibetans are a group of people who have maintained a peaceful protest for decades without effect . It's almost as though the world rewards those who use violence to get what they want , a small group of terrorists fly planes in to buildings and the world leaps to the aid of Afganistan . The Tibetans have not resorted to terrorism and their plight is ignored , shouldn't they be rewarded for years of peaceful action .
I for one am going to start upping the pressure on China , i hope others will do the same .