<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID\x3d2241452478836114109\x26blogName\x3dbyte-sized\x26publishMode\x3dPUBLISH_MODE_BLOGSPOT\x26navbarType\x3dBLUE\x26layoutType\x3dCLASSIC\x26searchRoot\x3dhttps://byte-sized.blogspot.com/search\x26blogLocale\x3den\x26v\x3d2\x26homepageUrl\x3dhttp://byte-sized.blogspot.com/\x26vt\x3d9076635309736429320', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script>

BYU vs. China for censorship title

There I was, eating my potato-and-cheese reheated lunch and browsing the news, when this headline caught my eye: "BYU lifts campus blockage of YouTube."

!!!

Are you trying to tell me that people all around the US are crying foul over China's directive insisting its citizens install the Green Dam program to block unfit content from their screens, but a US university acted *the same way*?

Readers -- feel free to chime in on this one. An institute of higher learning located on US soil has been blocking YouTube, the iconic poster child of free speech in America. I mean, sure, they are taking it back and saying sorry now, but *they did it*.

I'm fuming over this one, folks. Apparently it "will hold students at the Mormon university morally responsible for how they use the video-sharing website," according to our friends at USAToday.com.

And what, pray tell, is the problem with YouTube? I won't lie, I rarely use it, if ever, but I have no problem with it. Let's see what the experts have to say:

"We do block other sites (and have) filters as many institutions and companies do," university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. "They wouldn't provide any educational value. They would be in violation of the honor code as well."

Talk about blaming the orchard for a few bad apples.

Look, BYU -- I know you are very proud of being at the bottom of the annual list of party colleges, but I don't think sheltering your students from the evils of music-video knock-offs and silly parodies is really doing the student body any good. Assuming, of course, that the education you are giving them is top-notch, then you must also assume that, should these virtuous students want to bypass your filters and find all that evil Internet porn, they could.

And, no, it's not the same thing as a business censoring sites off employees computers to stop goofing off and unfulfilled productivity at work. Your students are not getting paychecks. Nor can you could every waking (and sleeping) moment they are within your hallowed halls as paid time they must use toward every productive means they can. In fact, since you are the ones collecting the exorbitant tuition paychecks, you should be ashamed for not serving your cash cows better than this!

Censorship is never the right answer. Must I reference Star Wars for a nugget of Princess Leia insight? "The more you tighten your grasp, the more star systems slip through your fingers."

Amen, girlfriend. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'm going to finish my cold lunch in peace.








Labels: , ,

“BYU vs. China for censorship title”