Freedom of Speech: China warns U.S. on push for Internet freedom

China on Thursday warned the United States not to use calls for uncensored access to the Internet as a pretext to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu made the comment at a regular briefing when asked about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech on Internet freedom on Tuesday.

Clinton said the US administration would spend $25 million this year on initiatives designed to protect bloggers and help them get around curbs such as the Great Firewall of China, the gagging of social media sites in countries including Iran and Egypt's recent unsuccessful attempt to thwart anti-government protests by pulling the plug on online communication.


It is the second time since becoming America's top diplomat that Clinton has criticized Internet censorship in China in a major address about online freedom. After her first speech on the issue in January last year, China issued a stinging response, accusing Washington of damaging relations between the two countries by imposing its "information imperialism" on China.

China has the world's largest Internet market, with 457 million people online. The communist government promotes Internet use for business and education, but uses extensive controls, popularly known as the "Great Firewall," to block access to material considered subversive or pornographic.

Note EU-Digest: the Internet is a universal communications tool and an integral part of what is also known as "freedom of speech". Basically this means the right for citizens of any country to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint by the government, and the corresponding right to experience anybody's expressions in public without censorship or restraint by government. The fact that some countries have chosen to apply censorship tools, including those on the usage of the Internet within their own domestic environment, unfortunately shows its leadership does not adhere to the basic principals of human rights.


For more: China warns U.S. on push for Internet freedom - CTV News

Google-China showdown may alter tech game

Few see China, whose leadership has grown more conservative and nationalistic in recent years, backing down in the face of the ultimatum. But such a declaration by a company of Google's stature could raise the ethical bar for businesses that choose to remain, and grant permission for firms without a presence there to second-guess the perceived wisdom that they should be there, observers say.

The Google-China flap has already reignited the debate over global censorship, reinvigorating human rights groups drawing attention to abuses in the country and prompting U.S. politicians to take a hard look at trade relations. The Obama administration issued statements of support for Google, and members of Congress are pushing to revive a bill banning U.S. tech companies from working with governments that digitally spy on their citizens.

For more: Google-China showdown may alter tech game

NBC: China -Internet Censorship - In China, battles over a new wall -

the Great Firewall of China - Internet censorship

For the complete report from msnbc.com clickon this link

Twenty years after the toppling of the Berlin Wall, another "wall" is facing intense public scrutiny in China. The so-called Great Firewall of China, the online filtering and surveillance program run by the communist government’s Ministry of Public Security, is alive and well and censoring freedom of expression for millions of Chinese. But over the past few months, Chinese discontent with the Great Firewall has bubbled over with increasing frequency and fervor.

The most recent incident occurred late in October when organizers for the Culture Project Berlin, a non-profit organization in Germany that promotes art and culture, created an online "Berlin Twitter Wall" where German tweeters were encouraged to share their memories of the tumultuous times surrounding the fall of wall 20 years ago. The site was soon flooded by over a thousand comments from China complaining about the infamous Great Firewall. Chinese netizens, who circumvented the government’s usual blocking of Twitter by using proxy servers, had suddenly transformed the online memorial site into a protest against 21st century forms of censorship. Chinese censors were relatively slow to respond to the swift outpouring of anger, taking a couple days before finally blocking the website hosting the Berlin Twitter Wall. By then though, the damage had been done. Prior to the blocking, Carsten Hein, a director of the project estimated around 1,500 of the around 3,300 comments posted on the page were in Chinese.

One user wrote, "Mr. Hu Jintao, Tear Down the Great Firewall!" putting a twist on President Ronald Reagan’s famous words to his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 imploring him to "Tear down this wall!" Another poster, appealed to President Barack Obama to take action during his visit to China later this month writing: "Mr. Obama please ask Mr. Hu to tear down the GFW, insure Chinese people use Internet free."