2.

Answer the following questions about the video:

2.1 How does the cat and mouse metaphor relate to Chinanet?

Chinanet is related to the game of the cat and the mouse as for about 15 years the
Chinese censorship, which is the government, has been “chasing” everything the
citizens do on the internet, so here, the authorities will be the cat and the internet
users will be the mouse.

2.2 What is the major difference between how the Arab dictators (ex. Mubarek and
Ben Ali) censored the Internet and how the Chinese government uses censorship?
What effect did this have on their regimes?

The major difference between how they censored the internet in their countries is
that China didn't actually censor the internet completely as they understood that
people need social media. But, the Arab dictators did not understand this, and they
censored the internet to prevent their people to criticize their way of government, for
example, Mubarek, an Arab dictator, shut down the internet completely, as a result of
this an insurrection occurred. Another clear example is Ben Ali, he wasn't allowed to
control Facebook, so here the people were able to upload content against his
corruption, as a result, Ben Ali was one of the first to fall in the Arab Spring. Instead,
the Chinese government uses a better method to censor their internet, they don’t
eliminate the internet completely in their country, they actually satisfy the social
network need in society, but they are able to control all their social networks as they
have replaced every social network with a Chinese version of it.

2.3 What does Michael Anti mean when he says that, in China, freedom is weird?
How is freedom used by the government to control discourse?

What he means when he says that in China freedom is weird, he is referring to the
fact that even though they are allowed to use social networks, if they comment
anything fake about the authorities they will be arrested, this is because the
government demands for respect, so, for example, Weibo, which is like Twitter for
Chinese people, is used for political fights, but here people is not completely free to
express how they feel as if the Chinese government will delete anything that is
against them. This is why he says that in China, freedom is weird.

2.4 Write the global perspective using this information. Write at least 220 words.
Include extra sources​.

My perspective over this topic is that I think that the method used in China to control
social networks can be considerably useful but at the same time I don’t think it is
completely fair. The fact that the Chinese authorities replaced the normal social
networks used in almost the whole world, with another system that they are able to
control and manipulate completely, is useful as it guarantees that the content in the
internet is safe. It is also good as unlike some other countries where the internet is
completely forbidden, China took into account that people need social networks in
their lives, but at the same time they wanted to be able to control everything that
goes online. I don’t think it is fair for the Chinese people because, evidently, they are
not allowed to express their point of view over political business in social networks as
the government can simply just delete their thought. Also it is not fair as all the other
people in the world has access to content in the internet that is banned in China, so
the Chinese people is not allowed to see this type content. In conclusion, the way
that Chinese authorities control the internet in China is not completely prefect as
even though the government is supposed to just try to keep the net safe, some
important human rights, like expression freedom and equality have been violated.