Some Chinese citizens reported to the Chinese authorities earlier that the queries in Google China led to the results of pornography. Therefore, the China government forces Google, the world’s largest technology company, to block the non-Chinese websites in the search engine in China. Before this case, Microsoft Hotmail and micro-blogging site Twitter were also shut in China because of reporting the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. However, China’s online censorship cannot deny the fact that information is exploded in the twenty-first century. In fact, it is not easy to control the source of information since it is produced in a very fast speed in various forms, such as books, Internet, and media. Yet not every piece of information is constructive to knowledge, the product of people’s consciously constructing the information they need. In this chapter, the authors’ indication of Francis Bacon’s “information as power” is no longer valid for now, since everyone can easily find the sources of information. What Bacon really means is not information, but knowledge that endows people with power. Those who have information without knowing how to use it effectively are like those who have money without knowing how to spend it wisely. As a result, people need to develop the ability to sort out the appropriate information for their knowledge use. The Latin maxim “Scientia Potentia Est,” paraphrased as “knowledge is power,” is verified when people know how to manage the information.
China orders Google to block websites
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25668043-36418,00.html
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