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# In Latest Sign of Apocalypse, China Lecturing UK Over Web Freedoms
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/in-latest-sign-of-apocalypse-china-lecturing-uk-over-web-freedoms/
- Published: 2011-08-12T15:18:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:48:42.000Z
- Description: The Chinese Xinhua news agency points out the hypocrisy of the UK PM lecturing the world about web freedom and then talking about curbing his own.
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: News, #image-position-hidden, China, Social Media, UK, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/08/chinese_uk_webfreedom.gif "chinese_uk_webfreedom")

This may not strictly be an art issue but you can imagine our horror to read that the official Chinese Xinhua news agency is rightfully pointing out the hypocrisy of the British government for lecturing the world about web freedom on February 22, when [speaking in Kuwait](http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?id=555228182&view=Speech&ref=hyperallergic.com) the British Prime Minister said that web freedoms should be respected “in Tahrir Square as much as Trafalgar Square,” and now we hear him talking about [curbing web freedoms in his own country](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/world/europe/12iht-social12.html?ref=hyperallergic.com).

Here’s the [zinger](http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-08/12/c%5F131046237.htm?ref=hyperallergic.com):

> We may wonder why western leaders, on the one hand, tend to indiscriminately accuse other nations of monitoring, but on the other take for granted their steps to monitor and control the Internet.

Dear, British Prime Minister David Cameron, you’re an embarrassment and a hypocrite. Please stop.

Yesterday, we published [a post](https://hyperallergic.com/looking-at-london-revolting/) about the images of the riots and looting circulating on social media and what they do and don’t tell us.