In regards to the query 1 that states, "The US government should institute formal policy that bars overseas sales of systems that provide targeted Internet surveillance if such systems are used to violate human rights or freedom of speech (such as the current internet censorship in China)." i have found one overall website that can help me explain each and every aspect and provide questions for the topic. There are in turn two ways of proving and refuting this topic and these ways are, that the United States is helping to change the set up of how the Chinese can control their internet so strictly. The other way has to deal with, well if we live in the US why should we care? Its not us, and its not our problem, should we really feel the need to interfere with foreign relations? Well in this website that helps me to explain everything that has to deal with the internet censorship in China. The fact of the matter is that the United States is actually doing something to help the people of China and this is actual documents and congressional hearings that support the ideas of people like Hillary Clinton and Condolezza Rice, two main governmental figures that feel the need to stand up and say something against the views of this chinese censorship. The article writes,"The 2006 Congressional hearings (NYT) marked one of the first prominent U.S. airings of the issue after revelations that several Internet companies, including Yahoo, had conformed to restrictions demanded by China." This helps the case by saying that China will not let people into their internet society and therefore someone needs to step in because as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigned in their most recent run for President of the United States, they opted for "CHANGE".
The reverse side of this argument has to do with the idea that if we live in the United States, why do we care about what other countries do? China is a Dictatorship and through their government they have many different aspects that most of their citizens need to abide by the laws created for them. Based on the laws in China and what i have researched due to this project it seems that China is not a place anyone would want to live in. China controls their internet very strictly and as a person of the United States personally, if it has no effect on me or my life, then i could care less what is happening in China right now. I never knew about their restrictions until this project started. The internet ban in china had no effect on my life so why should i care about the people there? come to America if your life is honestly that bad. Anyone can change their situation if they want to at anytime. The restrictions on internet activity in China gets so bad that my source says, "Authorities institute increasingly invasive controls on visitors to China's 140,000 Internet cafés. Users must present identification to use the computers, and the records are then handed over (Chronicle) to the authorities." These types of controls are absurd but China does what it needs to do in order to stay a healthy country. I may not agree with it, but i can't change it and it doesn't affect my life.
The second part of this assignment is to look at the second query and provide a side of rebuttal and a side of proof. The second rebuttal states, "The evolving capabilities to speak out and criticize the Chinese government using microblogs and other Internet social media will lead to more and greater freedoms for the Chinese people." This query brings across two different ideas that i encountered through my thought process.The first is that with the use of twitter and other blogs that the Chinese government or even the people of China do not even know about, Americans can work their way to help these people that are struggling through the abuses of internet use in China. they call this "The Great Fire Wall of China". Using microblogs and other unknown resources the Chinese can find ways to help them breakthrough this defense of the chinese restrictions. Many different people have done so already and through some of the different sources and videos we watched in class, my notes help me to explain some different people and their ways that they can help the chinese people breakthrough these walls.
The other side to this query is that the restrictions that the Chinese government create on these internet users is far greater than anyone could imagine. From the day some of these chinese kids were born they were born into a world with nearly no internet use. The advantages that the government is taking away in terms of learning, trade, and social interactions with people of other countries is something that most of these kids can never experience. I had a student live at my house from Germany while i was in high school an through that interaction, it opened up so many doors for me through the ideas and lifestyle of these other students. I grew as a new person a lost seeing how these other kids live and i lifestyle that i may one day want encounter. The chinese people are deprived of this even through meeting these students and broadening their horizons are restricted by their use of the amazing power that the internet has to offer.
http://www.cfr.org/china/us-internet-providers-great-firewall-china/p9856
No comments:
Post a Comment