Google’s purported withdrawal from the China market, due to hacking and censorship, has produced comments useful for opponents of internet censorship, described as ‘filtering’ by Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
According to The Guardian, the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said: “We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Google had briefed the Obama Administration before its China announcement. He said the president believed in the “freedom of the internet”.
Does Senator Conroy believe in freedom of the internet, like President Obama does, or censorship of the internet, like President Hu Jintao does? Is Australia to follow the US or the Chinese model of freedom of the internet?
See The Guardian article » …
Even the Chinese Government-run newspaper, the English language Global Times (run by the state newspaper, the People’s Daily) said Chinese people had a right to a free flow of information. It said:
“The information highway demands not only safe driving but also free flow of traffic. And, in the interests of the majority’s right to know, free flow of information should take precedence in a civil society.”
Senator Conroy, Tear Down That Filter!