Censorship is (Redacted)

I was recently talking about how cultural influences shapes Youtube as it appears to viewers around the world. Yet I missed probably one of the most important influences that shapes the appearance of Youtube in different countries, at least in China. China's communistic government has the ability and right to censor any online content it deems to be inappropriate or detrimental to Chinese society. Most people associate the Chinese censorship mainly to Google, but it also spread to Youtube.

The first time the government of China censored Youtube was in 2008 when China blocked Youtube during the Tibet riots. Although the Chinese government denies any reason for the bans, many people believe it was to stop videos of violence against protesters from reaching and influencing more people. Many websites have been censored by China when they are considered to spread "harmful information". Even the New York Times has been blocked in China at points. Website blocking is relatively rare in China although some websites are routinely blocked and almost every website containing user content has been censored at one point or another.

Not only does China censor and block foreign-based websites that bring in "harmful information", but China also heavily censors Chinese websites. Weibo, otherwise known as the "Chinese Twitter", is one of the most popular websites in China and is ranked by Alexa Web Analytics as the 17th most visited website in the world. However the user content has been severely censored. Anything from political dissent to sexual innuendo is subject for complete censorship. Some of the citizens are very dissatisfied with this, as it infringes on their free speech.

Censorship and website blocking are not simply a Chinese phenomenon. Almost every other country, including the United States has varying degrees of online censorship. Youtube alone has been blocked in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Turkey as certain videos were deemed politically unacceptable. While the US may not censor quite as much as China, but much more than most American citizens realize and would be comfortable with.

As we are constantly reminded that our forefathers fought for the freedom of speech, among other liberties, the average US citizen abhors censorship. I used to have the same mentality that censorship would deter learning and lead to further oppression, and arguments can be made on how much censorship is acceptable. However, I know realize that there are several censorship systems that exist to protect us. An example on Youtube is the flagging system. If a video is deemed inappropriate or harmful it can be blocked or removed by Youtube. Part of the consideration that goes into this is if the video gets flagged as offensive by many viewers. It is this system that keeps graphic and vulgar videos off of Youtube and allows it to be a relatively safe place to search videos and connect to others.

What freedoms we should have when it comes to speech and expression have been argued and debated for a long time. I personally enjoy the levels of freedom and regulation that we have in our country. If you prefer less regulation or more regulation there is a varying continuum of countries in our world. However, it seems that we have it pretty well off here.

Alexa Web Analytics - http://www.alexa.com/
Youtube Censorship - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_YouTube