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YouTube Censorship

2008-04-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in a technological world. Almost everything relates to the technology. For example, when we feel bored, we can go to the Internet to search for some funny videos. We can know different cultures from other countries from the Internet. Also, if we have something that we want to share with other people, we can upload it to the Internet. Bursey (2008) said, “The Internet is becoming a personal home theatre, with everything from news clips to cartoon episodes to homemade shorts.” Therefore, three PayPal employees created YouTube, which is a famous website around the world that people can upload videos onto or get information from (Wikipedia, n.d). For the normal users, they can watch most videos on the sites. For the registered users, they are allowed to upload videos. The Internet is an open area that everybody can access easily. YouTube provides videos to satisfy people. Also, people have rights to share videos with other people or refuse to watch those (Bursey, 2008). Although we can upload our videos freely, not all of the videos can be shared properly with everyone, or even in every country. Nowadays, censorship issues in YouTube are still controversial topics on the Internet (Zellel, 2006). According to Nystedt (2008), YouTube has been blocked by China because China wanted to stop the spread of the video that showed the riots in Tibet. In fact, YouTube censorship now has became an important issue in our society.

YouTube should have its own standard regulation to censor videos, because YouTube is an open website that people around the world can access. People have rights to publish their videos freely, but YouTube also has rights to remove them by using their standard censorship tools. YouTube should not be affected by other countries that have blocked the sites to change its censorship standard, because YouTube provides videos that are appropriate for most people.

First, violent or sexual videos may affect society and children’ growth. Some videos contain violence or sexuality, but actually it is hard to balance if the videos include too much violence or sexuality. According to Hopkins (2007), YouTube had removed a series of music videos from Taiwan. These music videos included something that might be derogatory toward Taiwanese women. These kinds of videos directly influence our society and these may become another controversial issue on the Internet, so YouTube decided to remove them due to violence. In another case, a murder happened in Finland. YouTube had allowed this video that was shown on the site because everybody had a right to know what happened (Sandoval, 2007). “The world’s most popular video-sharing site now finds itself in the middle of a very heated debate over issues of free speech, censorship, and whether the site is responsible for spotting criminals” (Sandoval, 2007, para.7). Why, of the two videos, was one video removed and another shown on the site? YouTube might have its own standard. Although the murder video might influence children’ growth, parents could prohibit their children from searching for these kinds of videos if they needed to. They should not require YouTube to remove it, because other people have rights to know what happens around the world.

Second, the videos insult religions; it may cause controversial problems around the world. Religion problems have always existed and are discussed in the Internet world. According to Gaijinbiker (2006), YouTube got rid of a video that contains the criticism of Islam. In order to avoid controversy, YouTube removed the video that might cause the disagreement. Nevertheless, “YouTube should not be in the viewpoint-regulation business; the best response to offensive speech is more speech, not censorship” (Gaijinbiker, 2006, para.3). YouTube provides a free space to let people share their perspective. People can share anything that they want, but not including insulting other religions. Religions are consecrated in some countries. People should have self-ethics and responsibility when they upload any videos about religions. People should respect all religions although they had disagreed with some religions. YouTube is a website that provides everybody space to share their videos. It is not a place that wants to make people argue.

Third, YouTube might be blocked in a few countries because some videos may be inappropriate for their oversensitive citizens. According to Schroeder (2007), some countries have decided to protect their citizens from the sharing of horror videos by blocking the site, such as Iran, Morocco, Thailand, Turkey, Iraq, Brazil, Australia (in schools), China, and India. Some countries were afraid that the horror videos might influence their citizens. In Victoria, Australia, YouTube has been blocked in schools, in order to protect children (Schroeder, 2007). In Morocco and Thailand, some videos had appeared to mock their king, so the government from these countries decided to ban the site. The hottest topic recently in China, according to Nystedt (2008, para.1), is that “China has blocked access to Google News and YouTube in an apparent attempt to stop the spread of video footage related the rioting going on in several cities in Tibet, including the capital Lhasa.” In order to avoid the riots, the Chinese government has blocked the site. Different countries have different standard censorship tools for the sites. They should not require all websites to follow their regulation. However, YouTube could have its own standard of censorship for videos. It should not be forced by every country. If other countries have any doubts for videos that were showed on YouTube, they could block the site or prohibit people from accessing it. They should not generate any controversial issues or ask for blocking the site. When the sites are blocked, at the same time, the human rights are also blocked. Thus, people from other countries have rights to what happens around the world.

As for the opponents, they said YouTube was unfair to get rid of their videos, or that YouTube could not provide videos that are too sensitive. When videos are removed, some people may think that YouTube is a business and it just wants to avoid any arguments (Gaijinbiker, 2006). Most people are smart enough to understand which is right and which is wrong. So, YouTube should not ban their videos. On the other hand, if YouTube approves videos which are too sensitive but only disputed by some people and countries, they may criticize YouTube for why YouTube does not get rid of those videos, because those videos may influence their children, society, or even countries. However, these problems are difficult to balance. If people feel uncomfortable about some videos, they should just not watch them. YouTube must have their standard censorship tools. It should not follow or cater to every country, because YouTube provides videos for people around the world and does not provide for a few countries or for personal use only.

In conclusion, YouTube is very popular because people have deemed it the most useful website (Hopkins, 2007). It is not as if people are without choices. The real attraction is that people can find any videos there. So, YouTube can use their standard censorship tools to censor videos that people upload. It does not have to follow or cater to every country’s regulation. If parents feel that the violence or sexuality is too much, they can disallow their children to watch it. When people upload any videos about religion, they should have their ethic and responsibility for the videos. Although they have rights to publish their speech, they should respect other religions. YouTube also has rights to delete videos, which may cause controversial issues. Finally, if a country feels the site is not suitable for their citizens, they can just block the site. Or if some videos are too sensitive for a few countries, they can ban these videos from the site as well. However, people have rights to decide for themselves whether they want to watch it or not.

Bibliography

Bursey, A. (2008, March 22). YouTube censorship no laughing matter. TelegraphJournal.com. Retrieved March 24, 2008, from http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/magazine/article/246083#

Gaijinbiker (2006, October 5). Selective Censorship on YouTube. RidingSun.com. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from http://www.ridingsun.com/posts/1159985048.shtml

Hopkins, M. (2007, November 25). More Hypocritical YouTube Censorship. Mashable.com. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://mashable.com/2007/11/25/more-hypocritical-youtube-censorship/

Nystedt, D. (2008, March 17). Google News, YouTube blocked in China amid Tibet riots. InfoWorld.com. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/17/Google-News-YouTube-blocked-in-China-amid-Tibet-riots_1.html

Sandoval, G. (2007, November 9). Should YouTube Play the Censor and Sentinel. CNet News.com. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from http://www.news.com/Should-YouTube-play-the-censor-and-sentinel/2100-1025_3-6217712.html

Schroeder, S. (2007, May 30). List of Countries that Banned YouTube. Mashable.com. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://mashable.com/2007/05/30/youtube-bans/

Wikipeida (n.d.). YouTube. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/

Zeller, T. (2006, October 9). A Slippery Slope of Censorship at YouTube. The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/technology/09link.html?ex=1318046400&en=e311caef3c3cf222&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Controversy in Wikipedia

2008-04-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Internet now has become the most popular tool that people can get information from. When we have to search for some information, we will go to search engine to get information. Wikipedia usually shows at the top of search engines and it is free to access (Byers, 2007). Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is contributed to and edited by many writers and editors (Lengel, 2006). It’s an open and free area, and it’s also the latest encyclopedia that we can find.

Wikipedia is a convenient online encyclopedia. It is suitable for people even students, who want to get information. Wikipedia should not be banned in schools.

Firstly, Wikipedia should be allowed for students to use. Wikipedia is a famous and useful website around the world. There are many different language versions on this site. “Launched Jan. 15, 2001, it is already the ninth most popular Web site in the United States, according to Alexa Internet, a company that monitors Web traffic” (Wolverton, 2007, para. 9). Thus, Wikipedia is free for everyone. It should not be prohibited from schools.

Secondly, students can be encouraged to use Wikipedia. Although, Wikipedia has caused controversy amoung some educators because it may be edited or have posted inaccurate information by anyone (Martin, 2007), other people can also modify it if information is incorrect. “Wikipedia, the internet’s most popular encyclopedia, has become an online phenomenon since it was launched six years ago” (Martin, 2007, para.12). Many people use it, which means that the information from Wikipedia could be accepted. Academics encourage students to search for information online. Wikipedia is one of the sources from the Internet as well, so students can be encouraged to use it.

Finally, Wikipedia is suitable for all students to use. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia website that gains the wisdom of many people who contribute and edit the information. According to Martin (2007, para.13), “seven percent of all Internet users now visit the site every day.” We can search and get information from different websites but Wikipedia is one of the websites that is accepted by most people around the world. Many people accept Wikipedia’s information, which means it also is suitable for students to use.

Wikipedia is a popular website around the world. It should be allowed and encouraged for students to use. It is suitable for all students when they want to search for information from the website. Wikipedia should not be banned in academics.

Reference:

Byers, M. (2008, March 08), Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith, Sophian, Smith College, Retrieved on April 23, 2008 http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/News/Controversy.Over.Use .Of.Wikipedia.In.Academic.Papers.Arrives.A.Smith-5765409.shtml.

Lengel, J. (2006, February 07) Authority. Teaching with Technology, Retrieved on April 23, 2008 http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/article.shtml?ID=12

Martin, N. (2008, Jan. 21), Wikipedia clamps down on ‘unreliable’ editors, Telegraph.co.uk, Retrieved on April 23, 2008 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/newes/main.jhtmal?xml=/news/2007/09/20/wiki120.xml.

Wolverton, J. (2007, January 22). Wikipedia Wisdom, Valley Vanguard, Retrieved on April 23, 2008 http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1141

YouTube Censorship

2008-04-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

YouTube in China

2008-04-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Dan Nystedt in “Update: Google News, YouTube blocked in China amid Tibet riots” discusses the fact that YouTube has been blocked by China because China wants to stop spread of the video that shows the riots in Tibet. China follows Myanmar, which has the same situation to control access to the sites. YouTube provides the world to all people, so China should not reject the approach of the video. Some videos show the violence, but peaceful demonstrations appear in other videos. These videos were taken by media or contributed by tourists. China has banned foreign media from Tibet since the Chinese government controls the press.

The censorial issues are always discussed by people from different countries. There is no right or wrong with respect to blocking the sites. Censorship tools will be executed in different ways that depend on the countries. For example, in order to defend their country, China will block the sites that will influence their country.

Blocking some videos that may influence people is a correct way for China. China is a communist country with a billion citizens. In order to manage a big country, the Chinese government restricts some things that may cause the demonstrations or riots. People from other countries may think that is not the best decision to block the human rights. Nevertheless, many citizens in China support their government. They think the government’s decision is the best choice for citizens. They even do not care whether the sites are blocked or not, because those videos may not change their life. Furthermore, they are afraid that their country may get the same situation if the rioting videos are showed. In other words, parents may control their children to access some sites because those may be harmful for their children.

On the other hand, blocking videos may also block human rights. People have the rights to know everything that they want to know and choose whatever they want to watch. If governments control the sites, it would probably block the human rights to know. In a democratic country, people have freedom to present their opinion and upload the videos that they want to share. When we search for information from the sites, we usually do not like that information we found but it doesn’t work due to blocking. YouTube is such a good website that everybody can share their videos. Also, people can figure out different cultures or opinions around the world from YouTube.

When the Internet exists, censorship issues may also appear. How can people balance these problems? Some countries may think that blocking videos is the way to prevent riots from happening but other countries think that may cut off the human rights. The better way to solve this problem is education. The Chinese government can show these videos but the government can also transmit other information to their citizens that would keep them from being nervous. The government can tell the truth, but people do not be worry about it. So, people can know the fact and the government will always accompany them.

In conclusion, if doesn’t matter whether the sites are blocked or not. The government may have their own reason. The better way is to educate their citizens so they have the rights to know what is happening around the world and they also will not be afraid of riots.

Reference:

Nystedt, D. (2008, March 17). Google News, YouTube blocked in China amid Tibet riots. InfoWorld.com. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/17/Google-News-YouTube-blocked-in-China-amid-Tibet-riots_1.html

Censorship on YouTube

2008-03-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

Ashley Bursey in “YouTube censorship no laughing matter” discusses everything could be watched through the Internet, such as news clips, and short videos. Nevertheless, the Chinese government blocked and restricted people from approaching these videos because they might include demonstrations and revolts. People could only watch videos that were checked by a censor on YouTube. A human rights problem might come out, and people could decide whether they want to see something even though it is a bad video. YouTube provides videos to satisfy people. Also, people have rights to share with other people or refuse to watch them.

Censorship is an inescapable issue in the Internet world. It may depend on politics, culture, and morality.

For political parts, in communist countries, they may censor their websites seriously due to peace reason. In order to avoid rebellion, the governments in communist countries may control some sensitive or secret information. This control may cause controversy in human rights because people can’t get information freely. People have rights to get what they want to watch. On the other hand, it is a way to prevent and fight riots. China is this type of country that the government blocks the site to keep people away from inappropriate information.

Culture is another issue to censor the site. Different countries have different cultures, especially religion. Religion is very respectable in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Thailand. If the video insulted to their religion, it might cause another controversy in the world. We should not joke with other religions.

People should have responsibility for the videos that they upload. Morality is the important aspect of censorship, because in most countries people are free to upload or watch all videos. So, morality is important not only for censors but also for people who upload the videos. The videos might be not allowed or deleted if they contained too much violence or sex. These videos might influence our society or even the world. When people upload videos, they must consider whether the videos will affect or harm other people.

YouTube is a free website that allows people to upload and share videos freely but not all videos are allowed to be shown on the Internet. It depends on politics, culture, and morality. People should have their own ethic or responsibility when they publish the videos.

Reference:

Bursey, A. (2008, March 22). YouTube censorship no laughing matter. TelegraphJournal. Retrieved March 24, 2008, from http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/magazine/article/246083#

Controversy in Information Technology

2008-03-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Jo Twist in “Controversy blights UN net summit” discusses the fact that the technology gap between rich and poor nations was narrowed but finance was not enough currently. The documents repeated the pledge that was finished at a first summit in Geneva two years earlier to help poorer countries do well with information and communication technologies. Also, the Tunisian government did not live up to its promise on its pledge for freedom of expression. Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, said Freedom is required for an information society in the Internet. There were many discussions to deal with the issue but there were no actual international standards.

We have already arrived in the technology world, but there are a lot of poor countries that do not have integrated technologies. Sharing information and censorship are also controversial in cyberspace. These are important issues nowadays. Thus, information and communication technologies should be cared about.

Many poorer countries do not have integrated technologies. Finance may be a problem to them. Poor countries do not have enough funding to purchase or develop their information system. They may need support from other rich countries. Another issue that narrows their development in technology is their government. The governments control and restrict everything about their information system so they can’t develop their technologies. Thus, technologies and knowledge should be developed in poor countries.

Sharing information is the other controversial problem in cyberspace. People feel that they do not have freedom in an information society. They do not allow sharing their information freely. Some governments may be afraid that criminal issues will happen through cyberspace. In order to avoid a security problem, governments may try to control the freedom in cyberspace. If governments can solve this problem, Internet may be a good bridge to let people connect and share information with other people around the global.

Censorship is another controversial problem in cyberspace. This is the hardest one to perform in the Internet because there are no standard rules to execute this part. Different countries have different standards. Thus, governments should build powerful censorship a tools to examine websites to avoid the criminal action in the Internet.

We are now in the information technology age. Information system is important for everyone, not only for rich countries but also for poor countries. So, we should help poor countries to build an integrated technology. Also, sharing information and censorship are important topics nowadays. Thus, everyone can have freedom to get or share information.

Reference:

Twist, J. (2005, November 18). Controversy blights UN net summit. BBC NEWS. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450474.stm

Dragon Boat Festival

2007-12-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

Dragon Boat Festival is one of three important festivals with Chinese New Year and Mid Autumn Festival. It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. This festival is in memory of the poet, Chu Yuan. He was a public servant in 2000 years ago. He saw his country was overthrown by another country. He felt very sad, so he jumped into the river. All the people in his country respected him because he was a devoted patriot. Some people drove boats and tried to find his corpse. Some people were afraid his body was eaten by fish or shrimp so they made a lot of rice balls and threw them into the river. Fish would eat those rice balls instead of eating his body. The fifth day of the fifth lunar month was the day he committed suicide. Thus, people started to memorialize this day. Until now, when this day came, we have dragon boat race. This race is not only to memorialize the patriot Chu Yuan but also to challenge the team of cooperation. For the food, we eat sticky rice ball on this day. The sticky rice ball is made by rice, egg, mushroom, etc. and use dry bamboo leaf to pack it. Actually, different parts of Taiwan have different taste for the sticky rice ball but the purpose is same to celebrate this day.

According to the lunar calendar, summer is coming after the dragon boat festival. There are many diseases that happen in summer. In order to prevent those evils and diseases, we hang bunches of moxa, a kind of herb, on the front door. For children, they wear the fragrant bag to keep the evils and diseases away.

The last activity we usually do is to stand an egg on the floor. If we can successfully stand an egg on its end at 12 noon that means we will be lucky people in the coming year.

Therefore, dragon boat festival is one important day for us.

Just Eat What You Want

2007-11-13T17:35:00.001-08:00

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Halloween Fever in CESL at SIUC

2007-11-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween is such a fun day in the US. Although it is a ghost day, it is a totally different ghost day with Asia. There are many taboos during ghost day in Asia. Everybody is careful when they do everything. Most of parents do not allow their children to go out at night or go swimming when the ghost day comes. In the Asia’s culture, everybody respects the ghost month. Many children are scared that this month comes. Nevertheless in the US, everybody fevers in this day especially CESL at SIUC. CESL prepared a lot of candies and gave to all the students. Some of CESL teachers and students dressed up in different roles. A number of teachers wore similar to an angel. Some of teachers wore as a devil. All teachers and students took a lot of pictures. Everybody enjoyed this day. After end of this party, students kept talking about the teacher’s dressing. Many students thought that the top two dressed up teachers were Mr. Weiner and Miss Farrar. Students didn’t know who they were when they appeared. Most of students felt amazing because they were absolutely different with their real style. Halloween fever is an especial experience for all internal students. This is a good way to learn the US culture as well. CESL teachers and students were mad in this day.

Normal But Different 平凡中的不平凡

2007-10-31T09:14:00.000-07:00

A Different Girl -- Debbie

She is a Taiwanese CESL student at SIUC.
She is kind and friendly.
Would you like to know about her more ???

Just visit her blog NOW !!!