Lots of Western media isn't blocked, CNN isn't blocked

What was blocked recently was BBC in response to CGTN getting blocked first in the UK

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were blocked because they refused to take down terrorist recruitment pages and accounts. Remember 2011 ISIS Twitter? Like that. Those services were available before

Additionally, the idea of Internet sovereignty is important to a healthy Web industry in any country. Without the firewall, companies like WeChat and Douyin/TikTok could not have developed

Furthermore, getting around the firewall is trivially easy. OpenVPN on port 443 does the trick, I've set one up for a friend before. Anyone who wants to get a VPN account and browse the wider Internet is freely able to, and many do this

Finally, censorship has a purpose, and that's public safety first and foremost. China doesn't have large conspiracy cults like QAnon or antivaxxers, because rumor-mongering gets reported and dealt with seriously. It's like shouting "fire" in a crowded theater, stopping it is censorship but also perfectly legal. They don't have graveyards full of children or measles, mumps, or rubella making a comeback because of this

Netscape Navigator gang rise up!

You shouldn't be divulging political affiliation on a job form, and it won't come up on a background check as what they check are credit and criminal records

The only thing you should be worried about with joining any Communist organization is if you're a noncitizen or a naturalized citizen for less than 5 years, as that can get you deported

Well you likely won't be disturbed in the DMZ until you step on a landmine

I've written /dev/urandom to /dev/null, it just makes your fan spin harder

Uphold Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and Xi Jinping Thought!

I'm an ML, because if we don't stop capitalism before it completely destroys the planet, we'll all be anprims whether we like it or not

And if you're in the imperial core, the immigrants you meet that "fled communism" are generally from ruling families and affiliated class traitors deposed in communist revolutions

For example, in the DC area, there's a large Vietnamese shopping center called Eden Center in Falls Church, founded by people from the former Republic of Vietnam (they even have a RoV flag flying there). Hyper-conservative and anti-communist af. MAGA hats are proudly worn there. Also considerable organized crime behind the scenes

Coincidentally the largest center of human trafficking in the area after Dulles airport

One of my socialist Vietnamese friends just can't go there anymore, just comprehending the background conversation is stressful enough. We both find it regrettable, because the food is amazing