Most articles on Internet censorship in China contain factual errors. I have mostly focused on the technical side of things. I agree with Kaiser who states:
In recent years, Western reporting on Beijing’s efforts to restrict Internet content has created the impression of draconian control: legions of Party stalwarts, filtering for sensitive keywords and all too ready to muzzle offenders.
And Rebecca too:
Western reporters can get away with this kind of sloppy reporting because there is so much real censorship happening every day in China. So reports of censorship are always believable – to foreigners as well as to many Chinese.
However, I don’t believe the answer to be so simple. Are there that many gullible/incompetent journalists out there? What about their editors? The media corporations they work for? The question still remains: why? I’d speculate but… maybe… another time.