Freedom of Information

In China, the internet is monitored in much the same way booze was during the Prohibition. All the Prohibition did was make a place for criminals to thrive, causing more serious crime to creep in. People were murdered for bottles of whiskey where before people would just murder themselves with whiskey. So the Prohibition was a failure.

If there was ever a reason to start drinking...

That example is the same for what will happen on the internet if restrictions are imposed. The tighter a corporation or government tightens it's grip on the internet, the more desperate people will fight it. It's not a human right to have internet access, but it is a human right to be educated. Article 26.1 of the Declaration of Human Rights states: "Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit." 

Therefore China, a member of the United Nations, is actively committing human rights violations according to the UN's OWN documents. It's proof that a government looking to keep it's people on a leash only needs to remove information from the equation and this really hits home for us in South Africa. The longer the majority of South Africans are kept without education, the longer the country hangs in the balance of misinformed voters. Voters who might believe voting for one party over another will get you through the pearly gates. Voters who cling to superstition as a way to understand their world, I'm going to come right out and say superstition is stupid and reckless.


Situations like the following work for a country hoping the young remain uneducated so they continue making uninformed decisions.

Nevermind the ramifications of politics, without freedom to information we will continue to have bigger problems. Ever heard of witchdoctors advising men with AIDS to have sex with a virgin to be cured? Well now you have because that's a common understanding that is being proliferated by sages. The internet allows us to say, "Hold on, let's me check that out quickly." How many times have you self-diagnosed something you were worried about using Wikipedia? Wrong or otherwise, never take that for granted.

The only problem is finding the right advice, but that comes with practice...good luck. :)