It was really interesting to me to see how China went about censoring the internet and enforcing the restrictions. I thought the article, “Cracking the ‘Great Firewall’ of China’s Web censorship” gave a lot of information to help better understand why governments limit speech, how they go about it and what the implications are. The article said how China has technically the worlds most sophisticated internet filtering systems, according to the OpenNet Initiative, and that it is much easier for Chinese authorities to monitor all the traffic into and out of the Chinese web. This is because all of the data comes into China through 3 cities whereas in the U.S. data is coming in and out of many various locations. In this way, government officials are able to monitor and police what is entering and exiting the country. The government also demands self-censorship, and enforces heavy censorship controls on the local companies.
Demanding self-censorship. Chinese authorities hold commercial websites responsible for what appears on them. In Beijing — where Internet controls are strictest — authorities issue orders to website managers through cellphone text messages and demand that they comply within 30 minutes, according to a report last fall by Reporters Without Borders.
It is interesting to consider the Yahoo! case and how it affects individuals that are not even in the country. In the article, “Yahoo! in China – Background” it took serious consideration on what Yahoo! has been doing and what it should be doing.
Yahoo!’s own later public admissions, Yahoo! China provided account-holder information, in compliance with a government request, that led to Shi Tao’s sentencing.
Governments around the world are asking companies, including Yahoo!, to comply with their efforts to repress people’s rights to freedom of expression and privacy. Companies must respect human rights, wherever they operate, and Yahoo! must give adequate consideration to the human rights implications of its operations and investments.
The thing is, Yahoo! does not have the right to repress anyones freedom just as much as unjust governments do not. I think it is good to note that Yahoo! has started to make steps to amend this process and change their involvement. I think to some degree at this present time companies like Yahoo! have the ability to be influential on the political sphere in helping ensure human rights, and that it is their duty to do so.
Finally, Yahoo! should not consider it an option to arrange a business relationship with a Chinese Internet company and then cite its own lack of control over its operations as an excuse for not taking pro-active steps to stop involvement in abuse of freedom of expression or privacy rights. But, on more than one occasion, Yahoo! has cited its relationship with Alibaba (Alibaba controls Yahoo! China in exchange for Yahoo!’s 40% ownership share of Alibaba) to explain its lack of ability to resist government requests for user information.
That is why we are supporting the Global Online Freedom Act, which is designed to respond to and prevent censorship and abuse of freedom of expression on the Internet by placing restrictions on U.S. Internet content hosting companies operating in countries that censor, prosecute and/or persecute individuals based on the exercise of such freedoms.
I definitely think that censorship is a major concern. Even though we may not experience intensive censorship, does not mean its not there or not harmful. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I think it is important to think more with those guidelines. Censorship is dangerous, and something that we do not want to spread. In that case, it is a concern that it exists at all.
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