China claims it doesn’t censor the Internet, it just manages content

Well everybody, it looks like we’ve all been wrong about China this whole time! Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese government doesn’t actually censor the Internet at all, it just “manages” the content on there, so I guess we owe them a big apology for getting the wrong idea! At least, that’s what the head of China’s Cyberspace Administration claimed last night, not that we all owe China an apology, but the the claims that China has some of the most horrendous censorship in the world is actually incorrect, as it all depends on how you define “censorship.”

China’s cyber chief rejected criticism of the country’s Internet censorship Wednesday. The comments by Lu Wei, head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, came ahead of next week’s state-sponsored World Internet Conference in the town of Wuzhen. Lu said that China does not censor but “manages” Internet content, the Hong Kong Free Press reports, citing transcripts of Wednesday’s press conference in Zhejiang province provided by the Xinua state news agency. “It is a misuse of words if you say ‘content censorship’,” Lu said. “But no censorship does not mean there is no management. The Chinese government learnt how to manage the internet from Western developed countries, we have not learnt enough yet.” The so-called “Great Firewall of China” prevents China’s citizens from gaining full access to the Internet. During the briefing, Lu defended the blocking of some websites and censoring of online posts, according to Reuters. He said that if the Chinese government were being too restrictive with the Internet, China’s online market would not be experiencing such rapid growth. “Indeed, we do not welcome those that make money off China, occupy China’s market, even as they slander China’s people,” he told reporters. “These kinds of websites I definitely will not allow in my house.”