Is it really for their own good?

As someone who studied both politics and communication in college, I am well aware of the extensive monitoring of the Internet by the Chinese government. However, Internet Filtering in China 2004-2005: A Case Study did offer me some information.

I did not know that while the BBC was blocked, most Chinese citizens can still access American news sites like CNN, MSNBC and ABC. I actually find that quite surprising considering the extent the Chinese government went to cover up the SARS outbreak among its citizens. It was one of the biggest stories in the American news media throughout the height of the outbreak. The document stated that most Chinese citizens were informed through receiving text messages from friends in other countries and then spreading the word. I suppose it's likely that the pages on the American news sites referring to SARS were blocked, or that they appeared temporarily unavailable during that time. I would be interested in finding out more about that situation.

Another item I found particularly relevant was that Chinese blog service providers prevent posts with certain keywords or edit them out. Now that I regularly keep a blog, the thought of whomever runs Blogger editing each of my posts that spoke negatively of the government appalls me. It almost defeats the purpose of keeping a blog. As tightly regulated as the Chinese media is, blogs in theory could offer an alternate opinion. However, since citizens are unable to offer any opinion deviating from the official Communist party line, I don't see much point in their existence in China.