I do see why people would want to crack down on certain blogging information that is being seen on the web. However, in the U.S I think this would be tricky because people would throw out their first amendment right. If the issue is threatening to an individual or organization then I agree that there should be a crack down on some informational blogs.
I feel that this is purely a power move by the Chinese government. It's important to them that no one dissents, and the rise of these microblogs has caused some people to gain more prominence than the official media outlets. The government sees this as a threat because the platform is creating blurbs that are easy to read and easy to share.
The Chinese government is trying to control the voice of the people. They realize that if the people form a untied voice that they will gather to try and overthrow the Chinese government. Blogging is an extremely powerful tool for an individual to get their voice heard and that's why the Chinese government is trying to restrict it's use.
This sounds like a lot of the politicians in America, what with the scandalous behavior and still trying to get votes. As far as tax evasion goes, taxes are always on the rise as well. I do agree that consequences should be a part of inappropriate behavior, so that the accountability can be made known. I also think that having the media make it known about the investor with the prostitute helps in the sense as a warning to others that may be doing the same thing or thinking about doing it to stop doing it or not get involved at all.
It does not surprise me that China would take these actions against bloggers. They have much stricter rules on censorship there. The government is concerned with keeping the people under control so there is no uprising. In the United State, it would be difficult for our government to pass such laws on censorship because of our First Amendment. We have the freedom to express our opinions.
It seems clear, at least in the voice of this piece, that the blogger was arrested for his blogging opinions, hidden under the name his past mistakes. We all hear frequently how people of China have a lot less speech freedom than we have here, and government is all too eager to wash their voices out. We take our freedom of speech for granted here in the U.S. Most of us were born with it. The Chinese government doesn't want false -- or true, but extremely negative -- information going around and possibly turning the people against it, and blogging is the easiest way to do that. In blogging you tell your opinions and put facts with it to make your case stronger. That's the last thing anyone would want going against them.
The freedom of speech is something many people take for granted in America yet in China they are fighting just to be able to maintain a blog with personal opinions on the internet. The Chinese government has censor "cops" per say finding the material that is posted to counter oppose the government and deleting it. As the article is summed up well by the magazine publisher Hung Huang I think it will just be an ongoing problem. The internet is so accessible to so many and works so quickly that regardless how hard the officials try to control websites like Weibo their will always be more out there being shared, read, and written.
There is a lot going on in this article about cracking down on blogging in China. It helps show the impact that public opinion can have on a society and country, so much so that the government is trying to control what is being said. At the same time people all over the world in today’s day and time are expressing there opinions and they feel they should be able to do so even if there government disagrees. Finally the articles shows us you shouldn’t always believe everything you read on the internet, because you don’t know whether it is made up to get views or to change opinions.
While the Chinese government is attempting to silence the voices of these "passionate" bloggers, they will never be able to completely get rid of them. The US experiences many situations like they are such as false reviews for companies, vicious blogs, and online media that spreads gossip. In our case, we simply try to teach people the importance of being educated so that you know what is false and what is true. If there really is such a huge problem with people speaking out on their government then maybe there really is an issue, and that's where the government should start working to change things.
I found it interesting that in China's rules and guidelines for defining slanderous online speech, they gave some protection to people accusing politicians of corruption only to a certain extent. The protection is lost when a posting becomes popular, so Big Vs are actually treated differently by the government than a regular poster.
I really liked the quote from Hung Huang in last paragraph of the article. He said "I don’t think these intimidation tactics will work...People will shut up for a month. Then they’ll come back. Maybe not the same people, but another group of people.” China has a huge population and trying to censor what is being on said online by EVERYONE seems like an impossible task.
I guess as a whole it makes me happy to live in a country where some modicum of free speech is respected. To be silenced and brought in under false charges doesn’t seem right for any reason in any country. I understand wanting to be rid of false rumors but just rounding people up for punishment in some way is like another holocaust. They compare these micro bloggers to and enemy country and that is how it seems china is taking them. They seem to be issuing an all out war because the social economy and political control in the government regarding media is slipping. When we lack basic freedoms such as the ability to say how we feel it makes you feel as if you are nothing more than a waste of air or a peon in the masses controlled by one person. Its like an army of zombies who all filing through life with nothing more than the ability to do as their told.
China seems to still act as a mainly communist country. It is obvious the freedom of speech is strictly prohibited in China. These bloggers that post their opinions are being arrested for other crimes not pertaining to their blog posts, but from a readers standpoint in another country it seems to be that the Chinese government is accusing them of crimes because the blog posts are informing the citizens of China about how their government is ran. This could cause rebellion of the citizens, which the Chinese government is attempting to prevent.
The Chinese government is just trying to censor its people. If someone was criticizing public officials and authorities then of course the Chinese government is going to step in. If people on the Internet started to band together then the Chinese government would have a bit of a problem on their hands. They wanted to stop some sort of revolt because they want to keep complete power over their people.
Crackdown on bloggers in China article gave me awareness of the issue that the residents living over there have to face. Also how the Chinese government monitor the Internet and what people write about.
It makes be appreciate where I live. America is not the best place but at least I have freedom of Speech and my opinion is respected. It seems as the Chinese government want to rule and control its people. There is no reason these people should be arrested for stating how they feel in these blogs. Trying to censor what people say is not realistic or practical.
While what is happening in China is terrible and as Americans we tend to get fired up claiming free speech is for everyone and no one should be spied on over the internet or otherwise. However our government is now spying on us Snowden blew the whistle hoping for his fellow Americans to join him in outrage, and we are still on our laptops safe in a Starbucks nook, not doing anything about it. For years our government has found sneaky ways to limit our free speech, nuisance laws, taxation of media outlets, censorship and more. China is just able to do it more openly without all the beating around the bush. No government wants to be overthrown and when we all have our own ideas there is always a risk of that.
China is cracking down on bloggers due to the fact that they are trying to crack down on what their people say and read. How China is monitoring their people sounds crazy to Americans due to the fact that we have the freedom of press. This is all due to the fact that China wants to control their people in all ways. I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are trying to not allow their people to revolt.
What is going on in China makes me so thankful that I live in American and am able to practice free speech. As a journalism student I think freedom of speech and the press is very important. China, being a communist government wants to keep opposing opinions out of view. They want to control their people to prevent things that are currently going on in other countries. I don't agree with the way the Chinese government conducts business, especially pertaining to freedoms.
Chinese officials think that cracking down on what bloggers post now will help what they post in the future, not true. When you push people into a corner you give them no choice but to run at you with full force. Adding more and more restrictions on an already suppressed society will cause in upheaval.
Controlling public opinion is something that I think every nation's government works towards. However, just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right. Fundamentally, there is no difference in the Chinese government shutting down bloggers and the U.S government imprisoning whistle blowers.You cannot tame public opinion. I think China will find that the harder they push to keep free speech that doesn't necessarily tailor to what the government wants to see off the internet, the more bloggers will respond and post.
I do see why people would want to crack down on certain blogging information that is being seen on the web. However, in the U.S I think this would be tricky because people would throw out their first amendment right. If the issue is threatening to an individual or organization then I agree that there should be a crack down on some informational blogs.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is purely a power move by the Chinese government. It's important to them that no one dissents, and the rise of these microblogs has caused some people to gain more prominence than the official media outlets. The government sees this as a threat because the platform is creating blurbs that are easy to read and easy to share.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese government is trying to control the voice of the people. They realize that if the people form a untied voice that they will gather to try and overthrow the Chinese government. Blogging is an extremely powerful tool for an individual to get their voice heard and that's why the Chinese government is trying to restrict it's use.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a lot of the politicians in America, what with the scandalous behavior and still trying to get votes. As far as tax evasion goes, taxes are always on the rise as well. I do agree that consequences should be a part of inappropriate behavior, so that the accountability can be made known. I also think that having the media make it known about the investor with the prostitute helps in the sense as a warning to others that may be doing the same thing or thinking about doing it to stop doing it or not get involved at all.
ReplyDeleteIt does not surprise me that China would take these actions against bloggers. They have much stricter rules on censorship there. The government is concerned with keeping the people under control so there is no uprising. In the United State, it would be difficult for our government to pass such laws on censorship because of our First Amendment. We have the freedom to express our opinions.
ReplyDeleteIt seems clear, at least in the voice of this piece, that the blogger was arrested for his blogging opinions, hidden under the name his past mistakes. We all hear frequently how people of China have a lot less speech freedom than we have here, and government is all too eager to wash their voices out. We take our freedom of speech for granted here in the U.S. Most of us were born with it. The Chinese government doesn't want false -- or true, but extremely negative -- information going around and possibly turning the people against it, and blogging is the easiest way to do that. In blogging you tell your opinions and put facts with it to make your case stronger. That's the last thing anyone would want going against them.
ReplyDeleteThe freedom of speech is something many people take for granted in America yet in China they are fighting just to be able to maintain a blog with personal opinions on the internet. The Chinese government has censor "cops" per say finding the material that is posted to counter oppose the government and deleting it. As the article is summed up well by the magazine publisher Hung Huang I think it will just be an ongoing problem. The internet is so accessible to so many and works so quickly that regardless how hard the officials try to control websites like Weibo their will always be more out there being shared, read, and written.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot going on in this article about cracking down on blogging in China. It helps show the impact that public opinion can have on a society and country, so much so that the government is trying to control what is being said. At the same time people all over the world in today’s day and time are expressing there opinions and they feel they should be able to do so even if there government disagrees. Finally the articles shows us you shouldn’t always believe everything you read on the internet, because you don’t know whether it is made up to get views or to change opinions.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Chinese government is attempting to silence the voices of these "passionate" bloggers, they will never be able to completely get rid of them. The US experiences many situations like they are such as false reviews for companies, vicious blogs, and online media that spreads gossip. In our case, we simply try to teach people the importance of being educated so that you know what is false and what is true. If there really is such a huge problem with people speaking out on their government then maybe there really is an issue, and that's where the government should start working to change things.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that in China's rules and guidelines for defining slanderous online speech, they gave some protection to people accusing politicians of corruption only to a certain extent. The protection is lost when a posting becomes popular, so Big Vs are actually treated differently by the government than a regular poster.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the quote from Hung Huang in last paragraph of the article. He said "I don’t think these intimidation tactics will work...People will shut up for a month. Then they’ll come back. Maybe not the same people, but another group of people.” China has a huge population and trying to censor what is being on said online by EVERYONE seems like an impossible task.
ReplyDeleteI guess as a whole it makes me happy to live in a country where some modicum of free speech is respected. To be silenced and brought in under false charges doesn’t seem right for any reason in any country. I understand wanting to be rid of false rumors but just rounding people up for punishment in some way is like another holocaust. They compare these micro bloggers to and enemy country and that is how it seems china is taking them. They seem to be issuing an all out war because the social economy and political control in the government regarding media is slipping. When we lack basic freedoms such as the ability to say how we feel it makes you feel as if you are nothing more than a waste of air or a peon in the masses controlled by one person. Its like an army of zombies who all filing through life with nothing more than the ability to do as their told.
ReplyDeleteChina seems to still act as a mainly communist country. It is obvious the freedom of speech is strictly prohibited in China. These bloggers that post their opinions are being arrested for other crimes not pertaining to their blog posts, but from a readers standpoint in another country it seems to be that the Chinese government is accusing them of crimes because the blog posts are informing the citizens of China about how their government is ran. This could cause rebellion of the citizens, which the Chinese government is attempting to prevent.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese government is just trying to censor its people. If someone was criticizing public officials and authorities then of course the Chinese government is going to step in. If people on the Internet started to band together then the Chinese government would have a bit of a problem on their hands. They wanted to stop some sort of revolt because they want to keep complete power over their people.
ReplyDeleteCrackdown on bloggers in China article gave me awareness of the issue that the residents living over there have to face. Also how the Chinese government monitor the Internet and what people write about.
ReplyDeleteIt makes be appreciate where I live. America is not the best place but at least I have freedom of Speech and my opinion is respected. It seems as the Chinese government want to rule and control its people. There is no reason these people should be arrested for stating how they feel in these blogs. Trying to censor what people say is not realistic or practical.
ReplyDeleteWhile what is happening in China is terrible and as Americans we tend to get fired up claiming free speech is for everyone and no one should be spied on over the internet or otherwise. However our government is now spying on us Snowden blew the whistle hoping for his fellow Americans to join him in outrage, and we are still on our laptops safe in a Starbucks nook, not doing anything about it. For years our government has found sneaky ways to limit our free speech, nuisance laws, taxation of media outlets, censorship and more. China is just able to do it more openly without all the beating around the bush. No government wants to be overthrown and when we all have our own ideas there is always a risk of that.
ReplyDeleteChina is cracking down on bloggers due to the fact that they are trying to crack down on what their people say and read. How China is monitoring their people sounds crazy to Americans due to the fact that we have the freedom of press. This is all due to the fact that China wants to control their people in all ways. I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are trying to not allow their people to revolt.
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on in China makes me so thankful that I live in American and am able to practice free speech. As a journalism student I think freedom of speech and the press is very important. China, being a communist government wants to keep opposing opinions out of view. They want to control their people to prevent things that are currently going on in other countries. I don't agree with the way the Chinese government conducts business, especially pertaining to freedoms.
ReplyDeleteChinese officials think that cracking down on what bloggers post now will help what they post in the future, not true. When you push people into a corner you give them no choice but to run at you with full force. Adding more and more restrictions on an already suppressed society will cause in upheaval.
ReplyDeleteControlling public opinion is something that I think every nation's government works towards. However, just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right. Fundamentally, there is no difference in the Chinese government shutting down bloggers and the U.S government imprisoning whistle blowers.You cannot tame public opinion. I think China will find that the harder they push to keep free speech that doesn't necessarily tailor to what the government wants to see off the internet, the more bloggers will respond and post.
ReplyDelete