Contemporary Issues in Computer Science
China in the Information Age
In the spring of 2008, as China was preparing to host the Olympics, The Atlantic published an interesting article, “The Connection has been Reset”, on the Internet, accessibility, and censorship in China. It described what some observers had named, “The Great Firewall of China”. You may find it interesting as background to the current discussion.
In the spring of 2010, two years later, a hot issue was what Google should do about its presence in China in the face of government censorship. Here are some articles about the discussion at that time:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/asia/13beijing.html?pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011300359.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/world/asia/14beijing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
By the summer of 2011, the discussion had changed. The Chinese had already become adept at molding Internet technology to meet their special needs. See the following articles:
Baidu: A Chinese Search Engine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu
Chinese Authorities Muzzle Traditional Media in the Wake of High Speed Train Wreck:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/world/asia/01crackdown.html?_r=2&hp
China’s
Microbloggers Rattle the Censor’s Cage:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/12/us-china-microbloggers-idUSTRE77B0JH20110812
Chinese Site Bans Web Tools Used to Avoid Filters:
Chinese
Writers, the Censors, and the Internet:
Choose one of the following questions:
Write a short essay of about 600 – 800 words. Write your essay in the style of an op/ed piece. In other words, state your opinion, then back it up with facts. Note that there is no “right” answer that we’re looking for. What we want is a clearly articulated position that is supported by at least some evidence.
See the Homeworks section of the Class Policies page for further instructions on how to complete this and other homework assignments.