Chinese Internet Users Relish Irony Of SOPA's Great Firewall Of America

from the shoe-on-the-other-foot dept

After being on the receiving end of the West's pointed comments about the Great Firewall of China and the online censorship it helps to enforce, Chinese Internet users are enjoying the deep irony that SOPA will effectively copy China's approach by creating a Great Firewall of America. As one wrote: It looks like that we can finally export our technology and value to the Americans. We�re strong, advanced, and absolutely right! The same post on Global Voices Online reports that others are taking things more seriously, and worry about the knock-on effects SOPA will have on Net freedom around the world: Most Chinese-language blogs and microblog messages emphasize the disastrous outcomes that the bill could bring. What people worry about most are bill's endorsement of surveillance by web services and Internet companies to prevent �infringing� content, and the implications for individual privacy. None of this will come as any surprise to Techdirt readers. But it's extraordinary that the politicians supporting SOPA can't see � or don't care about � the huge damage it will do to the international reputation of the US, and the harm it will cause human rights around the globe.

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Filed Under: china, human rights, protect ip, sopa