China’s top cyber authority has scrubbed 9,800 social media accounts of independent news providers deemed to have posted sensational, vulgar or politically harmful content on the Internet, it said late on Monday. China’s strict online censorship rules have tightened in recent years with new legislation to restrict media outlets, surveillance measures for media sites and rolling campaigns to remove content deemed unacceptable. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement that the campaign, launched on Oct. 20, had erased the accounts for violations that included “spreading politically harmful information, maliciously falsifying (Chinese Communist) party history, slandering heroes and defaming the nation’s image.”
I was quite surprised to hear that China recently deleted thousands of social media accounts in relation to either telling lies or telling to much truth about the government. The citizens of China claim that through social media they could express themselves without government intervention, since they have limited speech in the general public. News from social media even became a more reliable news source for the international community, than China’s officials newsource. The government even has an administration looking out for “harmful” accounts on the internet.
It’s sad to think that these citizens don’t have a voice in their government. The government of China claims to have a republic, yet everything is censored. What is the Chinese government covering up to the extent that they need an administration to seek out the harmful news. I personally take for granted my right to free speech. However, it is a privilege that I use in my everyday life. This includes me using social media, or simply discussing politics with another person. These people in China aren’t being protected for just voicing what they have to say about their government.
Having opinions about a government allows for people to collaborate on their ideas to make a change. With having censorship this allows for the Chinese government to do, for the most part, whatever they want. The Chinese people cannot make a change if they feel unsafe to even voice their opinions. In addition, freedom of speech also allows for the international community to know what really is going on in China. The social media accounts being deemed harmful, yet a more reliable source to the international community goes to show that the government is trying to keep its citizens under control.
On the other hand, considering the population size of China, I can understand the reasons that they censor their media in order for chaos to be prevented. If the people of China did have the right to free speech, they could easily start a rebellion by communicating with one another through the media and other sources of communication.
Yet, in all I still believe China has a long ways to go in regard to the citizens being represented, rather than the people who have influence in the government already. Freedom of speech makes a country stronger because critics keeps the government in check by communicating without fear their opinions.