China Requires Censorship Software on New PCs - 3 views

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  #1 Reseena Abdullah on 07 Sep 09

   

  The article talks about the software that the Chinese government has legislated to be installed on all PCs from July 1st onwards. The software is designed to "filter out pornography and other 'unhealthy information' from the Internet". It also allows the government to continuously update the computers with new lists of banned websites as well as monitor Internet use and collect personal information.
  
  Ethical issues:
  As mentioned in the article, one of the main problems with this software is that it restricts free flow of information. In this particular case, there is concern that Chinese citizens would be denied access to uncensored news and information. I think that in the interest of the society at large, such a move is detrimental because it does indeed encroach on people's personal freedoms. Is it really ethical for the government to decide for people what is 'good' or 'bad'? And who is to say that such censorship would be beneficial to society anyway? In fact, it would probably arouse interest and curiosity about such content and spur people on to seek it out via other channels. The Internet acts as marketplace for the exchange of ideas and information, and this software goes against this very ideal. Also, by adding the aspect of monitoring usage and collecting personal information, it is also impinging on privacy. This "Big Brother" effect is bound to have a negative impact on the way users surf the Net. And this atmosphere of having to constantly be mindful that you are being watched would deter people from using the Internet freely.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">The article talks about the software that the Chinese government has legislated to be installed on all PCs from July 1st onwards. The software is designed to "filter out pornography and other 'unhealthy information' from the Internet". It also allows the government to continuously update the computers with new lists of banned websites as well as monitor Internet use and collect personal information. <br /> <br /> Ethical issues: <br /> As mentioned in the article, one of the main problems with this software is that it restricts free flow of information. In this particular case, there is concern that Chinese citizens would be denied access to uncensored news and information. I think that in the interest of the society at large, such a move is detrimental because it does indeed encroach on people's personal freedoms. Is it really ethical for the government to decide for people what is 'good' or 'bad'? And who is to say that such censorship would be beneficial to society anyway? In fact, it would probably arouse interest and curiosity about such content and spur people on to seek it out via other channels. The Internet acts as marketplace for the exchange of ideas and information, and this software goes against this very ideal. Also, by adding the aspect of monitoring usage and collecting personal information, it is also impinging on privacy. This "Big Brother" effect is bound to have a negative impact on the way users surf the Net. And this atmosphere of having to constantly be mindful that you are being watched would deter people from using the Internet freely.</div>

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