Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Information Creation and Censorship
[I do appologize for this being so late! I have been sick and my computer had died. I had limited access to a computer and finally got a new one. It has taken me awhile to get "back on track". Thanks!]
Reading the article "Censorship 'Changes Face of Net'," was very interesting. I had not considered that a country would feel the need to censor what their people wrote and read on line. Of course, with the example used in the article - China, it makes perfect sense. They do not want the truth told or read. Particularly on the net where anyone in any country would have access. It is difficult to promote propaganda if you allow your citizens to post whatever they want online for all to see.
It reminds me of all the hype prior/during the Olympics. All the information that came out later. All the information that they hid in order not to show the world what was really going on there, what they are really like. I happened to be affected by the pet food recall a few years ago. For those of you who do not know, the industrial chemical, melamine, was found in cat and dog canned food. It so happened that my beloved dog, Kiki, ate one of the foods. I checked out the brand and lot number as soon as I heard. I was devastated to learn it was on the list of foods recalled. I can not express the horror I felt! Luckily for Kiki and myself, her food missed the lot numbers and date of manufacture by one week! I thought how could this be allowed to happen.
Now, as you probably know, a few months ago it came out the melamine was found in milk products in China. It was known for months and it was hidden. So many lives of their own people were wrecked by this horrible chemical. To know children died or got ill due to the greed of some people and that the government hid it to protect their reputation in order to show the world the new "China" at the Olympics. Especially where obviously after the pet deaths and illnesses it was widely known what would happen.
Can you imagine the panic in China and the world if someone had posted the truth on the internet! That their own children were being poisoned and were in danger? No wonder why nations wish to censor the internet.
"Censorship 'Changes face of Net'." BBC News. 6 June 2007. 14 October 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6724531.stm>.
Reading the article "Censorship 'Changes Face of Net'," was very interesting. I had not considered that a country would feel the need to censor what their people wrote and read on line. Of course, with the example used in the article - China, it makes perfect sense. They do not want the truth told or read. Particularly on the net where anyone in any country would have access. It is difficult to promote propaganda if you allow your citizens to post whatever they want online for all to see.
It reminds me of all the hype prior/during the Olympics. All the information that came out later. All the information that they hid in order not to show the world what was really going on there, what they are really like. I happened to be affected by the pet food recall a few years ago. For those of you who do not know, the industrial chemical, melamine, was found in cat and dog canned food. It so happened that my beloved dog, Kiki, ate one of the foods. I checked out the brand and lot number as soon as I heard. I was devastated to learn it was on the list of foods recalled. I can not express the horror I felt! Luckily for Kiki and myself, her food missed the lot numbers and date of manufacture by one week! I thought how could this be allowed to happen.
Now, as you probably know, a few months ago it came out the melamine was found in milk products in China. It was known for months and it was hidden. So many lives of their own people were wrecked by this horrible chemical. To know children died or got ill due to the greed of some people and that the government hid it to protect their reputation in order to show the world the new "China" at the Olympics. Especially where obviously after the pet deaths and illnesses it was widely known what would happen.
Can you imagine the panic in China and the world if someone had posted the truth on the internet! That their own children were being poisoned and were in danger? No wonder why nations wish to censor the internet.
"Censorship 'Changes face of Net'." BBC News. 6 June 2007. 14 October 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6724531.stm>.
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