Of course banning such things is ridiculous.
And as we know, "free speech" doesn't exist in China.
But then again, it doesn't in the US or Canada either. (in different ways)
More and more we are finding universities and other institutions shutting down "the conversations" on topics that might not be politically correct, or follow the agenda of some particular special interest group.
One example of dozen's is from the supposedly, renowned environmentalist, David Sazuki, of Canada. He has stated in the past that, "those that don't believe in climate change should be jailed." - (I'm paraphrasing)
Just the idea that we can't openly discuss such an important and complex topic is nonsensical. My point here, isn't to get into the climate change debate, just to point out that when ideology of any sort gets in the way of open discussion, we are all the losers.
Open discussion of most topics allows us to grow, change and understand each other as people, nations and in the end, hopefully come up with better ideas.
But, unfortunately, today more than ever we are not seeing constructive discussions or debate. We are seeing people take ideological stances based on half information and sound bites.