Imagine life without the Internet. Imagine the sheer frustration at being so “cut-off” from society. I mean, I was without the Internet for a month once and I was slowly dying inside, melting away into the abyss of time and non-internet related things, like sports and reading.
The Xinjiang province in China has experienced this first-hand. Since the riots that erupted in the province over the summer, the Chinese government has made full use of its Great Fire Wall. The Associated Press reports that the people there have had no Internet for six months now.
As a person who has experienced Internet censorship firsthand during the summer months in China, with no Facebook, YouTube, or FailBlog (gasp!), I have to honestly say that this makes me angry.
Yes, I realize that we as a society rely too much on the Internet for menial entertainment and useless time-sinks, but when people have to travel 750 miles to use the Internet and are at risk of losing their businesses, it just hits the point of ridiculousness.
No other country has ever done this past the span of several days, and it just shows that the government takes the easy way out at controlling dissent. It wouldn’t matter that I wrote this criticism, because WordPress is blocked anyway.
I’m just thankful to have my Internet.
Surf the web and check out my blog at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
Bahhhh + Google fails in China.
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