Posted on 03/25/2009 7:00:06 AM PDT by AJMCQ
China's move to block YouTube has been criticised by a leading advocacy group that promotes constitutional liberties in the digital age.
The Centre for Democracy and Technology told the BBC: "China's actions fail to live up to international norms."
The video sharing site has been off limits in China since Monday.
"China's apparent blocking of YouTube is at odds with the rule of law and the right to freedom of expression," said CDT president Leslie Harris.
"Anytime a country limits or takes down content online , it must be forthright and specific about its actions and do so only in narrowly defined circumstances consistent with international human rights and the rule of law," stated Ms Harris.
Google, which owns YouTube, told the BBC that it had no idea why the Chinese government had taken this action.
"We don't know the reason for the block and are working to restore access to users in China as quickly as possible," said spokesperson Scott Rubin.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
In theory, this is yet another major affront by the Chinese government against the principles of free speech and an egregious restriction of freedom.
In practice, this deprives the Chinese citizenry of the opportunity to see hundreds of thousands of videos of three-toothed drunken teenagers jumping off the roofs of their houses or getting kicked in the balls, all to the tune of a hundred commenters adding insightful observations such as “U R A GHAY FAOG”.
If anything, if the Chinese citizenry can’t see YouTube, that can only help their image of the US.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.