China defends internet censorship

Google recently pulled out of mainland China, blaming the restrictions of government censorship in the country. Now, China has defended its right to censor the Internet in an official government paper, which laid out the leadership’s attitude toward the web. It also states that foreign firms operating in China should abide by the country’s Internet rules.

Shirong Chen, China editor for the BBC, reports on the paper. He says that in addition to defending its right to censor anti-government websites and pornography, the paper also highlights some of China’s successes: The country boasts more than 384 milllion Internet users, with more than 70 percent of them accessing the web through broadband.