China: Great Firewall Isn't Censorship, It's Safeguarding The Public

from the it's-never-censorship-when-you're-doing-it dept

As we've discussed in reference to PROTECT IP, those who are in favor of censorship always have some sort of convoluted rationale for why it's not really censorship. They'll always argue that it's something different. In the case of PROTECT IP, obviously, they claim it's to stop infringement -- ignoring that it's still censorship. So it's little surprise to see the Chinese sounding just like PROTECT IP supporters in defending the Great Firewall of China by claiming that it's not about censorship at all. A government spokeswoman defending China from a US diplomat's complaint about the Great Firewall insists that it supports freedom of speech... but it has to filter and block websites online to "safeguard the public." And it claims it does so "in line with internationally accepted practices." Indeed, and PROTECT IP is just about "safeguarding some companies." There's always an excuse, but it never changes the simple fact that censorship is censorship.

Filed Under: censorship, china, free speech, great firewall, protecting the public