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China Praises UK Internet Censorship Plan

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-know-you're-on-the-wrong-side-when dept.

mormop writes "The Chinese government has praised UK Prime Minister David Cameron's plan for censoring social networking sites at times when the government feels threatened, believing it legitimizes China own behavior. Quoting Chinese state media website Global Times: 'Britain's new attitude will help appease the quarrels between East and West over the future management of the Internet. As for China, advocates of an unlimited development of the Internet should think twice about their original ideas.'"

4 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. +1 by That+Guy+From+Mrktng · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know you are succeeding in fascism if China praises You. The Standard & Poors of Fascism.

  2. Like slavery... by jhoegl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just because others do it doesnt make the position more legit.

  3. Re:Hyperbole by Nick+Ives · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If enacted, those provisions would be used against dissenters just like the Terrorism Act is now.

    I personally know people who've were detained under the Terrorism Act for walking through Charing Cross station with placards in their bag on the day of the royal wedding. They were released hours later and I believe are planning legal action.

    You're a fool if you think laws giving those kinds of powers to police to control social media won't be used against political dissenters.

    --
    Nick
  4. Re:Hyperbole by bky1701 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course that's alright. Censorship with qualifiers is all fine and good, right? China has plenty of qualifiers, too, you know. People who care for their freedoms shouldn't accept hollow excuses for fascism, because as history readily proves, fascists have no shortage of them. Censorship is never the right answer, no matter how many times nor how loud people argue that it is.

    Further, I believe that the Prime Minister and in fact most of the House of Commons have no idea how the internet works, as the PM repeatedly talked about "media companies and social media companies that are displaying these images," as if the internet is a TV network where every site makes a conscious decision what to show. I was utterly shocked that this is the person about to (attempt to) regulate social media. Britain need to get its act together, because it is starting to look more desperate and fanatical than the US, which is a very low bar to set indeed.

    --
    Great Intellect...