China has long held a tight grip on its Internet and media, restricting them from doing things such as displaying graphic images or criticizing their government.
After an earthquake shook the ground of China’s Sichuan province, in an effort to gain more support from countries around the world, the Chinese government began slacking on Internet and media restrictions they once tightly upheld.
After the devastation, the Internet became an outlet for victims of the earthquake to tell their stories and contact relatives through online videos.
Bloggers and instant messaging service users sought refuge in the Internet without the usual repercussions. Even China’s conventional media found itself with more freedom to display previously filtered images.
Approximately 574 million Chinese people own a mobile phone and 221 million regularly use the Internet — the highest number of users in the world. For China to be leading the world in mobile phone and Internet users is sort of ironic since they put such heavy restrictions on these mediums.
Although China has relaxed its grip on Internet and media in order to receive more help, the question on the mind of many people is “How long will they allow it to go on?”
No one should hold their breath for China to continue their leniency with the current Internet and media. Although it’s agreed that they should eliminate Internet restrictions, the chances of that happening are slim.
Restrictions equal control and China is all about control. As soon as China begins to ease up on their Internet restrictions and let other little things go, they’ll begin to lose control and it’s been established that their government doesn’t want that to happen.
It will be interesting to see how China’s Internet and media restrictions play out during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Thousands and maybe even millions of tourists will flock to China to see the world’s greatest athletes at their best. They might see something interesting and decide to snap a picture of it on their snazzy iPhone.
When they get ready to share it with all of their friends and family via sites like MySpace.com and Facebook.com, they probably won’t be able to because of China’s impractical restrictions.
If this were to happen, it could change a foreigner’s perception of China because, unlike most Chinese people, they won’t agree with or understand why China is being so uptight about certain Web sites.
China might want to look at opening up their Internet so foreigners who already don’t have harsh feelings toward their country won’t develop them.
Considering the media frenzy that will be covering the Olympic Games, it would be a smart idea for China to relax its grip on media and Internet restrictions.
Whatever China decides to do when the Olympic Games roll around, the chances of Chinese people permanently enjoying their sometimes blocked YouTube.com videos long-term is highly unlikely.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
