Anyway, I just had a reality check I wanted to share.
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square–of that bloody, deadly, awful day. There are photos I remember seeing, photos of students, not much older than I was at the time, and photos of tanks moving in on them. I didn’t really understand it, or the politics of China. I still don’t know that I really do.
Twenty years later, the Chinese government has shut down Twitter, YouTube, Hotmail and Flickr in anticipation of its citizen possibly mentioning this upcoming anniversary,possibly trying to commemorate the day the communist Peoples Liberation Army moved in on protesters and killed an estimated 1,000+ countrymen.
Can you imagine living in a country that would a)shutdown the rowdy parts of the Internet and b)not permit it’s citizens to remember something of great importance?
Not being able to talk freely about say, Kent State or Hurricane Katrina, two examples off the top of my head where maybe the government didn’t work in the best interest of the people?
Can you imagine living in a country where the plug can be pulled on Twitter? Or on your own personal blog if you say too much or mention key words?