Big brother is watching you!

There is a thin line between regulations and prohibitions, especially with the Internet. I just finished reading the report: Internet filtering in China, and I was very surprised to discover that there are societies where they see the Internet as a threat. I believe that the only explanation why governments (like China and Cuba) have filters for the media, is because they feel threatened by the information.

It reminds me of the book, 1984, by George Orwell, where everything was controlled by Big Brother. They controlled what you read, said, watched and talked. They even knew what were you thinking! I am not saying it is the same case in China, but by reading the report I realized that societies without free access to information are in great danger. These types of societies are confined to ignorance, poverty and abuses.

I do not want to compare China to a totalitarian government, but if the government is filtering information on the Internet, because it is "sensitive" then there is a problem . It is true that China is liberalizing the economy , but that is not enough for democracy. In order to have a solid democracy people have to be informed, people have to have free access to information (not to filtered information). My theory is that in developing countries, the rich class and many politicians prefer to have an ignorant working middle class. Then the government will always be able to control them. Even though this might sound as a very primitive world, it still happens in many countries.