China and Russia's Orwellian attacks on Internet freedom
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/keep-the-internet-free/2015/12/25/e9141c8a-a821-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html
The Post's View:
LAST WEEK brought a positively Orwellian moment to the
debate about Internet freedom. Chinese President Xi Jinping
spoke at a state-organized Internet conference in Wuzhen, in
Zhejiang province, where he was once party secretary. Mr. Xi
declared, "As in the real world, freedom and order are both
necessary in cyberspace." He added, "Freedom is what order is
meant for, and order is the guarantee of freedom." These slogans
are more than just propaganda from the leader of a country with
the world's largest Internet censorship operation. Behind them
lurks a dangerous ambition. In China today, there is no
Internet "freedom," if the word means freedom to visit Facebook,
Google or other vast stores of online information that are
blocked off by the authorities and their Great Firewall. On
vibrant social media, China's 670 million online users can often
find a way to be heard, if fleetingly, but a sustained challenge
to the ruling power of the Communist Party is invariably
squelched. Mr. Xi talking about "freedom" is like saying black
is white. His words were live-tweeted by Xinhua, China's
official news agency, and posted on YouTube, even though Twitter
and YouTube are blocked for most people in China. The real
danger in Mr. Xi's remarks is the word "order," because he
envisions not only politeness but also obedience.
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently
doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone.
_______________________________________________
pfir mailing list
http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
