" [1].

             Internet is not a public restricted domain that can be controlled by the government. In fact it has nothing to do with governmental or national space. It is one thing to stop demonstration or arrest people who speak against the government on national turf, but it is completely another story to make Internet a part of national space and monitor people's activities online. This is an extreme example of violation of freedom of speech but while we may express shock and grief, Chinese people are possibly used to such governmental activities. This is also due to the fact that arrests on the grounds of Internet-based expression is not something new for Chinese people who have viewed many such cases in the last five years.

             "From 2000, when the first Chinese "Web criminal" Lin Haiyin was imprisoned for instigating subversive actions, to the recent arrest of writer Shi Tao, more than 100 independent intellectuals have been imprisoned for expressing their views. Internet monitoring is also behind the constant rise in the number of Falun Gong practitioners executed by the state -- a total of 1,692 as of April 18." [1].

             Now we need to compare this with freedom of speech in the United States. For one, US allow complete freedom of speech under the Constitution. Secondly, no arrest cases on the grounds of Internet-based expression have come to the limelight so far which shows that while there may be firewalls and shields in some organizations, it is not being done on a national level. This allows people to freely express their views on anything and everything. The one good example of this would be consistent barrage of criticism that President Bush faces on the Internet. His own people call him names and openly criticize his policies and even his personal attributes. But since the constitution allows free speech, there is nothing the congress, the president or the law-enforcing agencies can do to curb or violate it.