2012-04-07

Leftists websites shutdown again

China shuts political websites in crackdown
Two Chinese political websites said Friday they had been ordered by authorities to shut for a month for criticising state leaders, the latest move in a broad government crackdown on the Internet.

Officials told the Mao Flag website, named after late leader Mao Zedong, and the Utopia website, also known for a leftist political stance, to close for "rectification", the sites said in separate announcements.

Authorities said their postings had "maliciously attacked state leaders" and given "absurd views" about politics, according to statements posted on the websites.

Those statements, dated Friday, were later removed. The operators could not be reached for comment and content on the sites was unavailable.
Does no one notice the irony of a reforming Chinese government shutting down Maoist websites? These headlines are often presented as typical of authoritarian China, but even Western governments have restrictions on hate speech and Germany restricts Nazis, thus in this case, it's hard to see how China is a special case. Shutting the websites of people who are the ideological heirs to the Cultural Revolution is at least on par with Germany's Nazi policies, and Germany's policies are permanent.

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