China Cracking Down…Again

Here’s one from the ‘you can’t have it both ways’ file. China is cracking down on the Internet and specifically online forums that have become platforms for criticism. Criticism of the communist government is a big ‘no no’ there, but at the same time they seem to enjoy the benefits of all the western capitalism that has been transplanted.

Sure the Chinese government has come out and said that ‘Internet rumors are malignant tumors that harm social stability.’ Maybe, but freedom of speech undermines the kind of dictatorship of the proletariat that the Chinese, and the Soviets before them, use and used a keep a totalitarian thumb on their citizens. No matter in the end, though. Social media and the web is picking away at all forms of dictatorship everywhere. All good things just take time.

In other news, the people who founded Twitter have come up with another innovation that will help small business get an even bigger foothold on the Internet. Square is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey and it allows merchants to take credit card payments over smartphones and tablets. It looks like just the kind of innovation that might add a much needed spark to the American business climate. It might even be possible to make more room for mobile apps to raise their prices and complexity. The new business was started in California and is looking to tap into the 26 million American businesses that do not accept credit cards. There’s even the hope that Square will eventually replace the cash register entirely and let smaller businesses run their operations from an iPad or other tablet device, processing payments and even taking inventory online.

Back to China for some good news. The leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests has opened a school for the promotion of democracy there. Dan Wang hopes to promote democracy in that country through the use of the Internet. Good for him. It’s harder to put tanks up against the millions that will stand up and be heard online for their fundamental freedoms. Wang admits the motivation for the new school was the Arab Spring movement and the changes it is fostering in the Middle East.

Wang knows the starting day for the enterprise, National Day in China which was yesterday will more than likely get him blocked, but he hopes will all the students studying abroad, the news will get around censorship. Here’s a link so you can sign up and do your part.

http://ns4d.org/

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