An E-mail Could Get You Arrested

Just one more reason to watch how you word things


By Meg Burd
December 03, 2003


As the "Stainless Steel Mouse" was released from jail in China last Sunday, Internet censorship and original arrest of "Mouse" and other "cyberdissidents" became a visible issue yet again.

Accused of posting Internet articles criticizing the government, "Mouse" (the nickname of Chinese college student Liu Di) was jailed due to the Chinese government's "concern about political speech on the Internet" and its forceful attempt to "monitor political speech aggressively and block particular Web sites, particularly those that deal with taboo subjects like the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement," according to the New York Times. Posting about Tiananmen Square and human rights, Liu was seen as a subversive element by the government and arrested in her dorm room for her Internet writings.

more info here

Just as a golden rule...when you are a citizen of China, you don't speak ill of totalitarian regimes unless you're comfortable rotting in a jail cell...

This does not surprise me. Specially with the history that China has had. It's not a free country where you can speak out your disagreements with the government. At least in certain countries, you are allowed to say, "I don't like how that is being done." or "The way that was done in the past was bad, it needs to be done better." Heck, in the US you can even say, "I don't like the president and his policies." Just means you need to vote the other way.

Good points, but its only a matter of time before it happens other places as well. What do you guys think?

I don't think it is going to happen in any other places...the world is becoming to progressive for that, despite what the alarmists say. I talk about communism here, it being a totalitarian regime in practice. However, there is an alarming trend of authoritarian regimes sprouting up, especially in Africa

To a certian extent it does happen .. i wonder just to what extent the govt records/logs everything going on online...

I hope this doesnt surprise anyone. This is the same country that shot down protesters at Tianeman Square. The government knows that if they let these individuals speak, China's government will be in serious danger.

Ah well, eventually people will be heard. Can't hold down a nation forever.....Can You?