Who do you want to censor today?

As summoned to do like an obedient servant, Microsoft, as ordered requested by the Chinese government, has pulled the blog of a Chinese journalist. From the article:

China last year started tightening its control over Internet services, but has yet to launch a major crackdown on bloggers. Experts believe the government is still struggling with media control without stymieing the country's emerging Internet businesses. China is the second largest Internet market, and is growing quickly.

So, like a knight in shining armor, Microsoft has come to the rescue of a government that wants to, but cannot, censor every blog. Way to go! Who says that Americans cannot solve all the world's problems! You would think that the government of a country with 1.3 billion people can deal with their own "problems" without American interference.

Beijing is smart. They know if they "launch a major crackdown on bloggers" the international community - other nations - would frown on such a thing. The government would "look bad" and that could hinder international investments. However, if they order make a polite request to the companies who make the software and host the blogs, then Beijing can simply say "we asked, and they pulled it, we did not pull it." The world sees the "bad guy" as the company that obeys (follows the law) and not the Chinese government. Hasn't the "we were just following the laws"¹ excuse been tried before?



¹ Change "the laws" to "orders" to illustrate the allusion.