Hacker News Reader

Comment by xnull | Hacker News Reader

The blocking of Facebook and Google is directly related to PRISM, social contagion theory, international surveillance, and weaponized media.

These issues are extremely complex and no single article or HN comment is going to cover it in it's entirety. I think the second bullet point is awfully good justification for China to have a 'less free internet score'. I'm definitely not going to claim that China doesn't engage in domestic censorship outside of international pressures - I believe they absolutely do.

But that's a different issue and not what I was trying to establish. In part, the comment is a good opportunity to alert people who don't understand that weaponization of media (psyops warfare) is prevalent on the internet today - including the 'free countries'. Thankfully, readers will observe this section of the thread and get clarity. :)

View on HN

>The blocking of Facebook and Google is directly related to PRISM, social contagion theory, international surveillance, and weaponized media.

Google wasn't blocked in China until the company refused to censor their search results back in 2010. Facebook wasn't blocked until Uygher activists started using it as a communications network during riots back in 2009. Social networks that allow the government unlimited power to snoop on messages and censor content are still widely used.

China's internet censorship has absolutely nothing to do with the United States' surveillance and has everything to do with the Chinese Communist Party controlling its citizens. It's completely misleading to frame it as anything else.

If you remember in 2010 China hacked into Google's infrastructure and gained access to the interface and databases set up for US intelligence surveillance.

China can and does filter content at a packet level and TLS 'strong encryption' doesn't protect you when CAs are both owned by the government, proprietary Chinese drivers run on Operating Systems, the large companies provide hardware backdoor access to the government (US bans Lenovo for government use for this reason), and networking companies likewise provide all hands access.

Just like any other internet service, China can filter FB/Google content directly - though it is easier with partnership and alas FB/Google has allied themselves with the US.

This should not have been downvoted.

"The company, which in 2010 blamed China for an attack on its computer networks, said it recently discovered the Gmail campaign, which "appears to originate from Jinan, China," and targeted specific individuals." - http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/china-hacks-go...

"Chinese hackers who breached Google’s servers several years ago gained access to a sensitive database with years’ worth of information about U.S. surveillance targets, according to current and former government officials." - http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/chines...

Weaponized media? Yes the truth is dangerous to dictatorships. You may not be bothered by censorship but you should still realize how futile it is in the internet age.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com