Lian Yue asked 4 questions on his blog and lots of people responded.

http://www.bullog.cn/blogs/lianyue/archives/132686.aspx

1. Does Internet bring China more democracy?

2. Is there freedom of speech on Internet

3. Does Internet help China consolidated or split?

4. Do Chinese treat Internet only as a tool of entertainment?

People have different answers to the first two questions. Some say there is no democracy because of the blockage from the government . Some say we can at least spread the information out before the blockage appears. Also the cost of blocking is still higher than controlling the traditional media, so there is more freedom. Some say you can hear more complaints, more truth, but it won’t change the way the government operates. People will just hide behind keyboards and escape reality.

One notable response is “Internet does help. The collision of different information is more thought provoking than the monotone content on text books. This effect is deep and broad. It will change the way people think. Their understanding of Democracy will be more real — comparing to the democracy taught on text books.”

From all these responses, I think people generally agree there is more freedom of speech because of Internet. However, Democracy is a concept that has no clear boundary therefore it is difficult for people to consent on it.

As to question 4, it depends on the definition of entertainment. Internet definitely brought more angle to people’s life: gaming, shopping, making money, learning, etc. You could say all those are entertainment comparing to big and serious topics like changing the way the government operates or changing the society…

It is a good time to ask these questions.