Here are some excerpts from an article, titled “Support Freedom of Speech on the Internet,” that Bill Gates wrote in 1996:

“The Internet’s potential is enormous, and the stakes are high. The Internet can raise the quality of political debate, the quality of education, the quality of life. It is precious and important, and we must not take it for granted…

“The free exchange of ideas on a global basis is something that is important for the U.S. politically and economically. Let’s not undermine the world-wide trend toward free expression by setting a bad example when it comes to free speech on a computer network.

“The Bill of Rights is the foundation on which our nation is built. The Internet is an enormously valuable place in which those rights must continue to thrive. Both the Bill of Rights and the Internet are potentially fragile. Mess with either of them too much, and we might ruin them.

“We can’t let this happen.”

And here are some excerpts from a story in today’s Financial Times:

“Microsoft’s new Chinese internet portal has banned the words ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ from parts of its website in an apparent effort to avoid offending Beijing’s political censors…

“Attempts to input words in Chinese such as ‘democracy’ prompted an error message from the site: ‘This item contains forbidden speech. Please delete the forbidden speech from this item.’ Other phrases banned included the Chinese for ‘demonstration,’ ‘democratic movement’ and ‘Taiwan independence.'”