US News Censored by Canadian Internet but free in Hong Kong
A family dinner was a quick reminder about how far Canadian censorship has gone. I don’t generally use platforms like Meta or Instagram to get news but a family member was complaining that the Wall Street Journal and other US publications are completely blocked in Canadian social media, but they noticed my wife’s phone could access them. Then they asked me what type of phone plan we had and we remembered that we have “Hong Kong data” which means all data travels through Hong Kong first, so even though we’re in Canada, our connection is the same as anyone else in Hong Kong. And apparently we are more free to do anything with Hong Kong internet, aside from the fact that ChatGPT blocks Hong Kong users, and many Canadian sites who use US CDNs, block Hong Kong users (eg. I cannot access most Canadian online shopping sites and even the movies!).
The government frames it as punishment for US news outlets and others for not benefiting/paying our country (AKA Bill C-18), which on the surface makes sense, but is ultimately a covert form of censorship. Where does the censorship stop? Did it stop at banning RT news from broadcasting for political reasons? Or will it stop under the guise of protecting children from online harm by denying access to the internet starting with minors by requiring digital ID? Or will it stop with the “Safe Social Media Act“? And how many “Did and will” statements will I be able to add each year after posting this blog as we see a continual erosion of internet freedom?
This is why I wrote this article, while using Russia as an example, but showing Hong Kong acts as a shield for data and hosting services because Hong Kong does not comply with arbitrary, politically motivated laws and cannot be coerced into changing its policies by outside influence.
