Christopher-
I think she means that if we are respectful of other people' sensitivities, then a greater good will come out in the end.
The censorship of content about the Chinese government's actions is not in the interest of the many, it is in the interest of the ruling elite. Whose "sensitivities" are really at stake here?
I was as concerned about proceeding with caution when they initially censored us as everyone else. When a really big bully pushes you, you may try to reason with him first. Perhaps you can bribe him, or you can hope that he will pick on the other kids and leave you alone.
But that's what all the other kids do, and that's why the bully has his power in the first place. And if you grant him that power, then he will use it and still abuse you. If at that point you are worried about the bully's "sensitivities", you are already a slave at heart.
Sometimes you have to push back.
Even if it hurts. And compared to what happened in 1989, the temporary loss of botanic knowledge is hardly a tragedy.
The way to defeat the bullies of the world is to expose them for what they are, and to realize that we are the many and they are the few. Then we can fight them.
Let them censor us instead of being their fig leaf. What a great way for them to prove the point that they're not interested even in neutral content, only in propaganda. Then let's use our collective intelligence to dig a way through the Great Firewall.