China is a global behemoth in the modern world. It is one of the biggest nations in the world with the highest population and one of the strongest economies today. Their military force is one of the strongest as well, with numerous skilled soldiers equipped with the most advanced equipment and munitions. It seems that China has it all. And perhaps it does. The nation is also blessed with a rich history, culture, and the arts along with some breathtaking scenery both natural and man-made. However, they may be just smokescreens to more pressing yet seldom talked about issues regarding real life in China. Chinese citizens do not enjoy many rights and they have no choice but to obey everything the government says or risk persecution. Life isn’t easy for the ordinary Chinese who not only has to deal with constant human right abuses from people in authority but likewise live in poverty in densely populated and polluted cities. But while their conditions are poor and human right abuses are the norm, they seldom complain because that’s just their way of life. After all, they know so little about life outside the great walls of their nation because the government imposes extreme Internet censorship and its citizens have little use of the World Wide Web so far.
(Via: https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/18/15337660/chinese-web-censorship-wechat-messages) If you live in a free country anywhere in the world, learning about these things can shock you. You’d probably wonder how people live with such restrictions in this modern day and age. But that is just the way it is in China. The people don’t even know what they are missing out on because the government is very good in limiting their access to the web and are prompt in addressing potentially problematic issues in their infancy. No wonder that Facebook and Twitter are not welcome in the Red Dragon of Asia. These social networks are notorious for controversial social and political remarks, discussions and arguments that may likely mess the internal equilibrium there is in China.
(Via: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/China-Time-Spent-on-Mobile-Internet-Continues-Grow/1015693) But it seems that the Chinese government should work even harder as the threat of technology and everything that comes along with it is now reaching even rural areas in Mainland China. Freedom of speech, information and of the press is a popular concept that is heavily influenced by modern western democratic culture and societies. They are something that Chinese leaders don’t want their people to openly enjoy as it might trigger an uprising against the government. Chinese traditional media acts as puppets, only showing what the government wants the people to see and know of. While the advent of the Internet posed a new and bigger challenge to the Chinese government, they managed to find a way to address this through the vast centralized censorship program. But if you look at it, what they are doing is even in clear violation of the Chinese Constitution itself that supports freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration. But leave it to the Chinese to find a way to do whatever they want. The whole world remains as distant onlookers who will keep on guessing what is really going on in this powerful Asian nation. The following article Internet Censorship In China is republished from CHRDNet Blog from https://chrdnet.org/2017/09/29/internet-censorship-in-china/
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