China’s Censorship Failure

China is one of the last communist countries in our world along with Cuba, North Korea, Laos, and Vietnam. Known mostly for their trade relations with the United States, the Chinese have become one of the top thriving technology sources in the world. The Chinese government recently passed restrictions for all computers in the country, announced to take effect last Wednesday.

The restriction called for all personal computers in the country to be sold with software called Green Dam Youth Escort. Computer producers worldwide started installing the software for computers going to China hoping to meet the deadline, July 1. Some companies feared scrutiny from the media in their home countries for enabling censorship in China, something that happened in America in 2006.

The government claims that the software is needed to keep children from looking at inappropriate sites on the Internet. They also claimed that Google was promoting sites of such inappropriate nature back at the end of June. On June 24^th and 25^th Chinese citizens were blocked from the Google main page and the Chinese version at google.cn.

Hours before the restriction was to be enforced on Wednesday, July 1, the government announced a delay in the new computer requirement. A government official said that the plan would be carried through eventually and that it is only a matter of time. However, no new deadline has been set for the restriction.

It might be hard to believe, but could this have been due to pressure put on the government? An honest answer may never be revealed.