Reddit mentions of The Fog of Censorship: Media Control in China

So, yea, people literally are programmed to behave this way. They are literally brainwashed [1].

• Fact: The Chinese themselves say they brainwash. We use the word "brain washing" because the Chinese created this word and concept based on the original idea by Stalin which they expanded upon. 1 2 3
  
• Fact: Chinese themselves say they were brainwashed and didn't even know it 1 2 3
  
• Fact: The term brainwashing and thought control are accepted term in academic and psychology circles when referring to China's education system 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: China has a long history of thought control with its roots predating the communist party 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: Textbooks (and books or even TV shows) that that promote “Western values” are banned in China. 1 2 3 4 5 6
  
• Fact: The Chinese government calls this unity of thought and is intended to be planted in the minds of all citizens. 1 2 3 4
  
• Fact: The Chinese Communist Party has pushed ideological education on students, requiring tedious lessons on Marx and Mao and canned lectures on the virtues of patriotism and loyalty. 1 2 3
  
• Fact: Children as young as six are taught to struggle for the cause of Communism 1 2 3
  
• Fact: All schools have a Communist Youth League (CYL) organizations for students with mandatory activities. 1
  
• Fact: This in turn reduces Chinese students capacity for critical thinking. 1 2 3 4 5
  
  Brainwashing (which actually is a direct translation from the Chinese word 洗脑) is very effective. I am always surprised at how much Chinese think they have free thought, yet when quizzed on the key points, universally their viewpoints (for example that Taiwan and Tibet belong to China, or that falun gong is a evil dangerous cult) line up almost exactly with the official viewpoints of the communist party. Which indeed is not surprising considering they are educated this way in a vacuum. Online you have the 50 cent party (who guides public opinion through online comments), internet censors (who have to learn the truth so they know what to censor), and flooding (deluging the citizen with a torrent of information – some accurate, some phoney, some biased – with the aim of making people overwhelmed). And in the offline world the analogy that their souls have been engineered has been used. You can't grow up in this environment without it having a profound effect on you.
  
  I have no doubt that many Chinese believe they are mostly free. And that is what makes what the party has done so impressive. It's almost as at some point the communist party ceases to exist as a stand alone entity and it just becomes one with the general population.