In a world where knowledge is power, the battle for control of the biggest source of knowledge, the Internet, is being fought at the highest levels of government and industry. The line determining who has the right to control the flow of that information is becoming blurred.
The recent struggle between China and Google is a good illustration of this. China insists that Google censors search results within its country and Google has been complying with China for the last four years. Google is now reconsidering its previous position on this matter.
Due to a rash of cyber-attacks originating in China, Google is looking at reversing its censorship policy and opening its search doors to all.
What makes all of this so ironic and hypocritical is that while our own government is up in arms decrying how the Chinese are suppressing free expression, and Google is being somewhat righteous and indignant about China imposing their demands, the United States has attempted several times to impose its own form of censorship and control over the Internet, while Google itself continues to politicize its own search results favoring one political party over the other.
In the Orwellian world of ‘1984’, the manipulative use of words was used to shape and control the thought processes of the people. The difference between that ficticious world and the reality of today is becoming less and less. Politically correct terminology shapes our thoughts and finally our actions. By controlling the access to non-politically correct information, the thinking process is limited to within ‘acceptable’ limits.
Any attempt to control the access and flow of information can be considered censorship. If you control the information available to people, you ultimately control their thoughts.
If China or any other country, including the United States, wants access to the Net, then all information should be allowed to be accessed. Corporations like Google or any other internet service provider should provide that information without filter or censorship. Let the people choose.
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