Is your blog censored or not??

We all know what censorship is. And we all know what internet censorship is, right? It's the control of publishing or accessing information on the internet. So, now that that is established, there are places all over the world that have some level of internet censorship, even the United States. If you thought we had freedom of speech, think again.

As Peace Corps volunteers and "ambassadors" of the United States we are definitely censored to an extent. We are continually told and advised from writing about things that could damage the image of the US Government, the Peace Corps and the volunteers themselves. We should always remember to be culturally sensitive, and avoid any ill-mannered comments about the country we are serving and to also avoid any political controversy. The Peace Corps is especially sensitive as to avoid any potentially damaging or embarrassing statements that could make its way to the public media and give us a bad image.


I get that. I completely understand the importance of this "censorship" and for me, its not hard to abide by. Yes, at times Bulgaria can seem to be a strange, strange place, but I love it here and the odd ways of life. I love the idiosyncrasies that are Bulgaria, that make Bulgaria. I would like to think that anything I write is not ill-mannered but merely my observations. I would also like to think that what I have to say about Bulgaria and my service here would not be taken in the wrong way, but rather seen as the truth, the reality we live in here. Recently, I have even become bold enough to send my blog link to my colleagues. I was a little nervous that they might be offended, but on the contrary. They found it to be light, sometimes witty and quite insightful. They told me it is an interesting read of Bulgaria from an outside perspective, from a fresh perspective. Read it as you will, but please take it with an open mind. (Let's just hope Peace Corps doesn't come down hard on my blog like they have with other volunteers. Because what would be the fun in blogging anymore?)

With all that being said, I now ask you this. Have you ever heard of the "Great Firewall of China"? Well, in China, the government continually embraces censorship methods in the media, including the internet. Although China is not the only place where you can find internet censorship. Some of the most extreme cases of internet censorship also includes Vietnam, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, Myanmar, Cuba, and North Korea among others.


A non profit organization has creatively established their own website to test websites all over the world and see if it's been blocked by the Chinese government agency in charge of the internet cleanup. Here is the link so you can test your own blog or site or whatever...

Great Firewall of China

I tested my blog and it turns out that...it's AVAILABLE!!! Well, supposedly anyways. Is yours??

(Please Note Map Above: Orange represents the countries in which PC currently works in, while purple shows the countries in which PC is currently inactive.)