The past few days i have noticed myself resisting clicking on links because i know they go to sites that are blocked by the Great Firewall
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Oh ugh. All the people here who cry about their freedomz being limited by a mask should live one single day like that, I guess. Still, knowing that all this is possible certainly makes one more aware of small steps being done in that direction. Like, in the US right now....
The Chinese government has an iron grip on the internet and all broadcast and print media in the country. The thing they are most afraid of is allowing people to speak their minds or share knowledge and information that is not party-approved. The scary part is that living there, even just after a year or so, it changes you. There is no immunity to the power of propaganda. For people who grew up and spent their whole lives in that environment, many of them accept it completely. Some even argue that it's good to give the government absolute control, because it helps to quell rumors and conspiracy theories that would otherwise harm the nation.
I had no idea about the extent and nature of the censorship in China. It's alarming since millions of people are subjected to this, and it forms their views... Millions of people have only ever known these limitations. They're denied information. That worries me. (There is a lot of garbage online and "fake news" and misleading things, but I think propaganda is among those lesser forms of or untrue information.)
I was so annoyed. I called the bank and i'm like "can you at least tell me why my cards were canceled" and they're like "yes, but you have to come into the branch" and you're exactly right: GAH!
That is crazy. I was surprised by how strict it was in Saudi Arabia but a VPN fixed most things. Many websites were blocked, sometimes I could not do nursing research as the page was deemed indecent. Netflix was blocked and movies edited to remove kissing scenes, books and news papers restricted etc. I had to get a VPN to use paypal. Amazon was pretty tricky too. Skype, viper, whatsapp voice calling and others were blocked at times and I was told this was because these companies refused to allow the government access to private conversations.
I didn't want to write anything that may be deemed as going against the royals in case I was arrested or anything that could be anti islamic or seen as promoting another religion as this carried heavy penalties. I also did not write much about things like drinking alcohol or being in mixed sex company.
It stayed with me for a while after I left.
China sounds so much worse. Hopefully you shake that feeling of being watched.
The annoying thing about VPNs in China is that they don't always work reliably. I had three different accounts, and often had to switch between them. Even when you're connected, the government slows down or interrupts "suspicious" connections to try annoy people into disconnecting. During sensitive times (anniversary of Tiananmen massacre, coronavirus outbreak etc) none would connect. You can't complain to your ISP, because private VPNs are illegal. At work we had a legal business VPN, but business VPNs are monitored and even then some sites remain blocked. It's really frustrating, but it's the law so what can you do?
I think it's only after you leave that it really sinks in just how oppressive things were.
We are told by work that if we go anywhere in or near China -- even on our personal passports, even with no connection to work, even for a day - we need to throw all of our electronics in the trash on the way out, because they will almost certainly have been hacked there is no way to get over/around/through it. :(
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Still, knowing that all this is possible certainly makes one more aware of small steps being done in that direction. Like, in the US right now....
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(There is a lot of garbage online and "fake news" and misleading things, but I think propaganda is among those lesser forms of or untrue information.)
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I didn't want to write anything that may be deemed as going against the royals in case I was arrested or anything that could be anti islamic or seen as promoting another religion as this carried heavy penalties. I also did not write much about things like drinking alcohol or being in mixed sex company.
It stayed with me for a while after I left.
China sounds so much worse. Hopefully you shake that feeling of being watched.
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The annoying thing about VPNs in China is that they don't always work reliably. I had three different accounts, and often had to switch between them. Even when you're connected, the government slows down or interrupts "suspicious" connections to try annoy people into disconnecting. During sensitive times (anniversary of Tiananmen massacre, coronavirus outbreak etc) none would connect. You can't complain to your ISP, because private VPNs are illegal. At work we had a legal business VPN, but business VPNs are monitored and even then some sites remain blocked. It's really frustrating, but it's the law so what can you do?
I think it's only after you leave that it really sinks in just how oppressive things were.
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