Many Small Ladders; One Great Firewall

Today, the International Herald Tribune delves into China's Internet censorship policies and efforts to combat them...

For the vast majority of Internet users, censorship still does not appear to be much of a factor. The most popular Web applications here are games and messaging services, and the most-visited Internet sites focus on everyday subjects like entertainment news and sports. Many, in fact, seem only vaguely aware that the Chinese Internet universe is carefully pruned, and even among those who know, a majority hardly seems to care.

But growing numbers of others are becoming increasingly resentful of restrictions on a wide range of Web sites, including Flickr, YouTube, Wikipedia, MySpace (sometimes), Blogspot and many other sites that the public sees as sources of harmless diversion or information.

The mounting resentment has inspired a wave of increasingly determined social resistance of a kind that is uncommon in China.

(Flickr photo by Hannibal Poenaru)