Tear Down the Great Firewall: Internet Freedom in China

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in the United States today for the U.S.-China Summit. President Obama should use this important Summit to address China’s poor human rights record—including its aggressive censorship.

Imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but the vast majority of Chinese citizens don’t know about the prize, and have never even heard of Xiaobo or his work—because their government censors. Searching for “Liu Xiaobo” on the Internet in China resets your connection and kicks you off. Googling “Tiananmen Square” gets you images of a beautiful plaza covered with flowers. The Chinese people have a right to information. Urge President Obama to raise the issue of Internet censorship at the U.S.-China Summit this week. A year ago, Secretary Clinton marked a major milestone for freedom of expression when she affirmed that it is a U.S. priority to promote Internet freedom abroad. She promised to work with foreign governments to address repressive policies and programs that limit freedom of expression and privacy. She repeated this call last week. Last year, Google took a stand against China’s regime of online censorship after revealing that its networks, as well as the networks of 20 other companies, were the target of Chinese hackers who targeted human rights activists. And China has exported its censorship tools to other closed societies like Belarus, Iran and Vietnam. Tell President Obama to urge the Chinese to tear down the Great Firewall!