An article written on the New York Times website by Andrew Jacobs titled “China Further Tightens Grip on the Internet” explains how China's strict internet censorship negatively effects its citizens. One may take for granted their freedom to explore the world wide web without boundaries or limits, in the privacy of their own home but not everyone around the world is given such rights. China's communist government closely monitors the internet to restrict what citizens can see or do. As a result, access to Gmail, Flickr, and other popular V.P.N's, virtual private networks, are off limits to Chinese citizens. Internet censorship in China has been nicknamed the "Great Firewall" by Westerners. The "Great Firewall" seems an appropriate name considering the Great Wall was built to protect Chinese civilians and the firewall is an attempt to do the same.
China's internet restrictions has walled off their country to the virtual world and made communication and collaboration very difficult to accomplish. Citizens of China are expected to accept their government's authority but blocking popular V.P.N's has created an outcry of upset internet users, desperate to find ways around the Great Firewall. In their quest for cyber-sovereignty, China may actually be hurting their country more than helping it. Internet restrictions make international business very difficult to accomplish. In the 21st century, international business relies heavily on internet access and the freedom to share thoughts, ideas, images, and other content. China's internet restrictions may hurt their economic recovery if business is inhibited by cyber-policing.
The internet connects us to the rest of the world and keeps us informed on current issues and events worldwide. International news editor, Henry Yang, explains that he needs to be in touch with the rest of the world. His company relies heavily on Facebook to follow American Broadcasters but have difficulty viewing news outside of their country due to internet restrictions. China's government lets their citizens see only what they want them to see anything perceived to be controversial or deemed inappropriate by the government is blocked by The "Great Firewall."
Google applications that enable online collaboration such as GoogleDocs, have also been restricted by the Chinese government despite its benefits to international business operations. The government has also blocked access important email applications like Gmail on smartphones too, making business communications further more difficult to conduct. The government's well-intentioned claim is that they are targeting popular V.P.N's like Google in an attempt to foster "healthy development." Students who rely on Google Scholar to write research reports are also outraged with the restrictions. The outcry of frustrated citizens has gone unacknowledged by the Chinese government and continues to be an ongoing and daily struggle.
