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True, China has long repressed dissent - often brutally - and airports around the world are notorious for frowning on even casual jokes about explosives, violence or hijacking. But Twitter brings a new combination of persistence, reach and spontaneity that we haven't really grappled with yet.

No matter which you think needs to adapt more - the law, or the way we use social media - we enter 2011 facing a new level of accountability for our spontaneous comments. And the kind of idle conversation that could pass without comment in a pub is now part of the permanent, searchable record.

By the way, this cartoon is part of a 2010 year-in-review I'm putting together. Look for it later this week on Noise to Signal... and in the meantime, I've made a Noise to Signal 2011 wall calendar, free for the downloading. Happy holidays!

More Noise to Signal.
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