China Defends Screening Software

China has been seeking to censor and restrict the use of the internet to its citizens. The Great Firewall of China was a very important development towards this goal. In 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a directive stating that all new computers manufactured to be sold in China were now required to pre-install censoring software called the “Green Dam Youth Escort.” The Chinese government has been defending the content-control software by pushing the argument that it would protect the youth from the poisonous and toxic parts of the internet. Critics of the software claim that it will further censor the internet. My biggest take away from this article is that China is very concerned with what content its citizens are able to easily access. With some additional research, I also read that the software filter contains about 85% political keywords, and only 15% pornography-related keywords. This information makes it hard for me to believe that China’s main goal was to protect the youth, and not for political advancement.