Comments on: NYT in China Blocked and Unblocked http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2008/12/22/nyt-in-china-blocked-and-unblocked/ Thoughts from the Internet and Democracy Project team at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:33:36 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Bryan http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/2008/12/22/nyt-in-china-blocked-and-unblocked/comment-page-1/#comment-4717 Bryan Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:51:41 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/?p=337#comment-4717 The problem here is one of assumption. You write that "the average Chinese internet citizen must know what he or she is missing." You are thereby implying that by knowing their internet is filtered, the average Chinese "internet citizen" will make demands for more openness. That is, you are applying an American point of view onto the Chinese web user. I certainly accept that an American will want more, more, king-size, but many Chinese are happy that their government protects them from things on the internet. Again, I only have my personal experience in China (hardly a representative sample). I asked several people if they could see every web page. They acknowledged that no, they couldn't. When I asked them if they wanted to see more the answer was invariably, "yes, I would like to see everything--but my government knows better than me." When I talked to people about the correct role of government the typical Chinese answer was, "The government should work to preserve harmony." The eastern world simply has different ideals on the subject of individual verse society. This chafes against our western point of view, against being the lone cowboy. But you might have to accept that the "average Chinese internet citizen" actively likes the control imposed upon him for the greater good. The problem here is one of assumption. You write that “the average Chinese internet citizen must know what he or she is missing.” You are thereby implying that by knowing their internet is filtered, the average Chinese “internet citizen” will make demands for more openness. That is, you are applying an American point of view onto the Chinese web user. I certainly accept that an American will want more, more, king-size, but many Chinese are happy that their government protects them from things on the internet.

Again, I only have my personal experience in China (hardly a representative sample). I asked several people if they could see every web page. They acknowledged that no, they couldn’t. When I asked them if they wanted to see more the answer was invariably, “yes, I would like to see everything–but my government knows better than me.” When I talked to people about the correct role of government the typical Chinese answer was, “The government should work to preserve harmony.” The eastern world simply has different ideals on the subject of individual verse society. This chafes against our western point of view, against being the lone cowboy. But you might have to accept that the “average Chinese internet citizen” actively likes the control imposed upon him for the greater good.

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