Rebecca MacKinnon posts about an open letter from some Chinese netizens who feel ignored in the struggle between China and Google. Says Rebecca:

In a nutshell, it expresses the view that Chinese Internet users have been left in the dark. While it’s assumed that the Chinese government would seek to keep its people in the dark – hence its censorship in the first place – they find it unfair that Google has not provided them with enough information to form educated and fact-based opinions about what’s going on.

The letter writers support “necessary censorship” so long as it follows clear rules, is done by relevant and named departments, and does not impede “The public’s right to study, scientific inquiry, communication, and commercial activity…”

Rebecca also says that she’s hearing “from many people that the ‘Google China incident’ – as many Chinese call it – has greatly heightened awareness among normally apolitical Chinese Internet users about the extent of Internet censorship in their country. It has sparked a lot of debate and soul searching about the extent to which their government is causing them to be isolated from the rest of the world.”

It would be very helpful and non-evil if Google were to address these questions.

Categories: censorship dw