[newuser88273]

To play devil's advocate: If you had the choice between identifying all domestic users of GFW circumvention tools, rounding them up, and shooting them, or attacking some of the foreign devil peddlers of such tools, which is the more humanitarian and mild measure?

Edit: I'll try to make this a little clearer. Consider that many of the most free and civilized countries you know will identify, round up and harshly punish consumers of child pornography. Imagine a China (or another state of your choice) that sets its mind to providing the deprived and opressed western masses with as much child pornography as they can download. Is the West's only admissible choice to dutifully round up and punish its own citizens? Is it clearer now?

[joncp]

So you're comparing access to child pornography with access to news?

[newuser88273]

You were supposed to compare --- not the forbidden things AS SUCH, but (a) the abstract fact that they're illegal, composed with (b) SANE ways your OWN country can react to the fact of a NON-FRIENDLY FOREIGN power engages in ENABLING, ENCOURAGING and ENTICING your own citizens to breach same law.

To give yet another example: At some point in time, exporting an 128 bit symmetrical block cypher from the US may have been grounds for punishing you, the perp.

Let's counterfactually assume that China was successfully propagandizing tens of thousands of US citizens about both the ridicoulousness and the anti-freedomness of this law. Assume that thusly propagandized US citizens resisted and breached the law.

Again: Would you prefer that the US, assumed to be quite aware of the Chinese efforts, would have identified, rounded up and harshly punished US citizens having exported "munitions" in the form of 128 bit symmetrical block cyphers after having been successfully turned against perfectly patriotic (even if misguided) US policy by non-friendly Chinese propaganda, while completely not doing ANYTHING to stop that propaganda, even though PROVEN to put US CITIZENS IN JAIL??