When reading James Fallows, "The Connection has been Reset," or hearing about the Chinese media in class, it wasn't as surprising as the media in other countries. I expected government ownership, control, and influence. If the majority of the countries we've examined so far are not separate from the government, free media in Communist China can hardly be expected.
Even when the technology and the process behind the Great Firewall, where certain information is filtered online, I wasn't shocked. China wants to keep their country stable, so it makes it extremely difficult for the people to access controversial or anti-government information. Of course, there are loopholes, or else the system wouldn't work.
What I would like to know is who is using proxy servers and VPNs to access forbidden information. Are the Chinese aware of the firewall? Do they feel restricted, or, as Fallows pointed out, are they happy with news mostly about China? I personally feel news of the entire world is overwhelming. Knowing every little bit is hard and almost unnecessary when you are looking at an individual life within a country of billions.
If there are people using the loopholes, there are obviously Chinese aware of the restrictions and interested enough to find the restricted information elsewhere. Who are these people? Is this a more educated part of the population? Are they old or young? How much are they risking by breaching the firewall?
These are the more interesting aspects of China's situation. No surprise about government's control. After all, it is a communist country. The people questioning the conventions are where the holes in the system exist.
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