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The ruling socialist/communist party fears any discussion of its characteristics and its flaws. It's a way of keeping total control of a society when you can be
by camdenlock 9y ago
The ruling socialist/communist party fears any discussion of its characteristics and its flaws. It's a way of keeping total control of a society when you can be sure that people won't just naturally find themselves aligned with the ideology the government is trying to push.
- pcr0 9y agoThat doesn't explain why they've banned Justin Bieber, Winnie the Pooh or celebrity gossip. If anything, those would distract conversation away from the party. They're also trying to be a moral police.
- kccqzy 9y agoWinnie-the-Pooh is reportedly banned because of the superficial similarity to Mr Xi. (I have no sources for this because as usual the Chinese government doesn't publish an official policy explaining why they ban certain things on the Internet.)
- z1mm32m4n 9y agoI would guess they view these sorts of topics as "gateway drugs" into American culture, culminating with free speech and open criticism.
- yorwba 9y agoThen they should really ban basketball. The NBA seems to be the most popular part of American culture in China. Personally, I think not all censorship is in some way aimed at free speech, that's just the most obvious parts. Anything the party leadership disagrees with can potentially be censored. That includes criticism and ridicule of the party, but also pornography or memes they don't like.
- stevekemp 9y agoApparently not: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- zhemao 9y agoYes, this is definitely true. Porn sites are also blocked for instance. Political censorship is the primary purpose of the firewall, but since the tool already exists, they go ahead and block things that don't fit into their conception of a "harmonious society".