cyphercide
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Nazis killing Jews isn't free speech -- it's murder. Saying you wish all Jews were dead is free speech. It isn't a position I endorse any more than I support the killing of Chinese, but I'm not going to gag people who talk about those things. Again, the content isn't what matters to me. I simply think people should be able to say whatever is on their mind, free from government manipulation. The problem with government censorship is that it's a blunt instrument, and it has great potential for abuse. If you can avoid using it, you should.
I understand that some places in Europe will throw you in prison for saying the wrong things. They are taking a path that I don't agree with. What those governments do or don't do has little to do with my viewpoints.
Forget government censorship, fear Chini capitalist censorship:
Coming soon to a theatre near you: China's Communist Party.
From demanding changes in plot lines that denigrate the Chinese leadership, to dampening lurid depictions of sex and violence, Beijing is having increasing success in pressuring Hollywood into deleting movie content it finds objectionable.
It's even getting American studios to sanction alternative versions of films specially tailored for Chinese audiences, like Iron Man 3, which has debuted in theatres around the world. The Chinese version featured local heartthrob Fan Bingbing - absent from the version showing abroad - and lengthy clips of Chinese scenery that local audiences love.
There's no secret to what's driving Hollywood's China policy, which has burst on the scene with meteor-like intensity in the past year. Already the second-biggest box office in the world, China seemed set to surpass the US/Canada market by 2020 at the latest. And with traditional movie funding sources drying up, Hollywood studios increasingly see Beijing as a bankrolling destination of choice, with Chinese counterparts ponying up on glitzy co-productions, including Iron Man 3 and next year's Transformers 4, as well as films without a direct China connection.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8608942/Hollywood-bows-to-China-censors
http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/how-hollywood-is-bowing-to-communist-china