Image via Complex Original
In 1993, Rupert Murdoch famously said that the Internet would be a "threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere." It makes sense, then, that most, if not all, countries that are widely seen as such have taken great measures to keep the Internet, and its users, under tight control. The goal being to make sure no dissenting opinions are published or consumed. One such country is China. The People's Republic has developed a sophisticated system of filters to block, well, anything it wants. If you ever wondered just how the Internet works under the clenched-fist of China, keep reading.
Everything Runs Through the Great Firewall of China
The "Great Firewall of China" is the nickname for the country's sophisticated system of Internet filters which goes by the official name of the Golden Shield Project.
Eight companies provide Internet service for the entire country—the Chinese equivalent of Verizon, Time Warner, and Comcast. These providers, in turn, are controlled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which closely monitors Internet activity inside the country and between any foreign nations. The firewall also blocks content it deems sensitive or that runs counter to the perspective of the government.
If that wasn't enough, in 2009, the government required all new computers to be sold with Internet filtering software pre-installed. One of the future goals of the system is to create a online database that will include speech and face recognition. "Scary" can't even begin to describe this sense of control.
So, it Shouldn't Come as a Surprise that Big Brother is Always Watching
The Great Firewall also uses page scanning to intercept content it finds illegal. Say, if you visit a website, the filtration system will immedaitely begin scanning the content on the page. If it finds it acceptable, you'll be able to stay on. If not, you may experience down times from anywhere between a few minutes or an hour. If you keep trying to visit an "unacceptable site," may be reported to Chinese authorities.
The Government Uses IP Blocking to Silence Websites
When a website is deemed inappropriate by the government, its IP address is blocked by the Golden Shield Project. Service providers receive a list of websites that should be blocked and prevent them from connecting to the computers attempting to access them. Such websites include those that feature any information about Tianamen Square, the Dalai Lama, and any protests. The government also requires social networks like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to block any controversial content. This was most recently seen in 2009 when those protesting in Xinjiang attempted to use Facebook to organize and saw their efforts completely impeded.
VPNs Can Help Citizens Get Around the Firewall, But for How Long?
Virtual Privacy Networks (VPN) have become one of the only ways Internet users in China could get around filters and see content that the government had blocked. Except, in late 2011, rumors started to churn that the Chinese government had developed software that is able to learn, discover, and block encrypted VPN connections by using a machine-learning algorithm to analyze internet traffic.
Oddly Enough, Explicit Adult Content is Not (Completely) Censored
Pornography has been illegal China since the People's Republic was founded in 1949. However, in 2010, the government eased up and stopped censoring explicit adult content on the Internet. No one knows why the ban was lifted. Some reasoned that the government had bigger things to focus on like the protests that took place on the anniversary of the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. So, in summary: Any sites about government officials have affairs with 18-year-olds are blocked, but Pornhub is all good.
What's Your Real Name, Not Your Screen Name?
Imagine how the comments in a WorldStarHipHop or YouTube post would look if the users had to use their government names. If you lived in the People's Republic, you wouldn't have to imagine too hard. At the end of 2012, China passed a law that requires Internet users to register their real names.
The law was passed after Chinese officials found themselves in the midst of numerous scandals, including one where an official was filmed on tape having sex with a 18-year-old girl. After the video was viewed on sites like Weibo (considered to be the Chinese Twitter), there was a flood complaints about the abuses of power by the Communist Party leaders.
China claimed the law was meant to strengthen the protection of personal information, but many see it as a way to keep a closer eye on those with dissenting opinions of the government.
U.S. Companies are Not Exempt from China's Laws
Google has primarily been blocked in China since 2009, when it refused to block videos of Tibetans being beat up during riots that occurred that year, and was accused of linking to porn. Yet, Google's arch-nemesis, Yahoo!, has decided to capitalize on Google's blockage and operate under China's guidelines to keep its share of users. Reporters Without Borders, a non-profit that defends journalists, accused Yahoo! of giving information to Chinese authorities that helped jail reporter Shi Tao for divulging state secrets in 2005. The non-profit said Yahoo! acted as a "police informant," to keep its relationship with the government and keep its business intact.
Actually, Very Few Internet Companies are on Your Side
Major Internet companies doing business in China know that if they don't crack down on content the government finds illegal, they, too, will be in hot water. Companies have taken to creating and hiring their own censors--a combination of computer algorithms and human editors--that hunt down any illegal content. If these companies, no matter how large, fail to follow the government's standards, they will face warnings or fines, or even a temporary shut down. Many companies have ceased doing business in China because of these restrictions.
Embarrassing the Government? That's a No-No
Any content that may be seen as an embarrassment to the government or is overtly anti-government won't be online for long. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was jailed for three months in 2011 for speaking out against the government, and is currently barred from leaving China. Activist sites, news sites, and political pages are all under constant surveillance and are at risk for deletion. New keywords are blacklisted and filters are implemented whenever a new event occurs that could possibly show the government in a bad light.
The People's Republic is Great at Trolling
As powerful as China's Internet surveillance and filtering system is, it's not infallible. It can't catch everything. If the government is unable to block or censor certain sites or posts, it will do the next best thing: join the conversation. This is done through the 50-Cent Party. Members get paid to write pro-government posts for, you guessed it, 50 cents a pop (5 mao). It's rumored that the party has grown nearly 30,000 members since its creation in the early 2000s, and is run by Internet-savvy university graduates.
