I read a New York Times article about Great Cannon, the government's new application to censor the Internet. It's designed to block websites that the government doesn't want you to look at.
The article quoted Internet protection specialists announcing that the Chinese government can use the Great Cannon to snoop on any person getting access to illegal Chinese websites. The article stated the State Internet Information Office would watch all of the citizens on the Internet and prevent them from posting any illegal information or accessing it if it is to be posted. The Chinese government claims that they have the right to block Internet content that could be a threat to national security. They say they are protecting their citizens from "dangerous" information.
The US government, however, can't say the same because all US citizens are protected from invasion of their privacy by the first of 10 amendments. These amendments make up the Bill of Rights which prevents, for example, police from searching a citizen's house without a warrant. Or the government to monitor what their citizens look at on the Internet.