21 Final Project Draft

Social/Political/Legal Environment Final Project (Draft)

1. The issue that I have really been interested in this semester is internet accessibility in China. Most people in the world know that China has been one of the strictest governments in the world when it comes to internet access among its citizens.  However, I recently came across a very interesting article that was talking about how China’s incredibly strict policies are even impacting people from outside countries ability to see what is being published on the Chinese web.  In this report, I will look at internet censorship in China and how it continues to evolve.
2. Context
   1. Background: Internet restriction in China has been a longstanding issue, with the country’s government taking measures to regulate access since the early 2000s. This began with the implementation of restrictive policies that targeted sites seen as politically sensitive, such as news websites or social media platforms.  As technology advanced and digital communication became increasingly popular, so too did governmental efforts to control web content.  This resulted in an ever-expanding list of restricted sites, and the implementation of sophisticated censorship measures such as keyword blocking and IP tracking.  More recently, China has continued to tighten its grip on internet access by introducing a “Great Firewall” system, which blocks access to foreign websites and services.  All these efforts, while they have been largely successful in terms of restricting internet access, have also raised several ethical questions.  In the past, China has been criticized for censoring content that is considered by many to be harmless, such as YouTube videos and Wikipedia entries.  This raises legitimate concerns about freedom of expression and personal privacy.  Moreover, it remains unclear how much of this censorship is actually necessary, and to what extent it serves the interests of the Chinese government.  All of these questions are worth exploring in order to better understand the implications of internet restriction in China.  Thus far, both domestic and international efforts to address this issue have had limited success, with governments around the world voicing their condemnation but taking few tangible steps to push for reform.  The continued lack of progress on this issue is troubling and suggests that the current state of affairs is here to stay.
   2. History and Cultural Motivations Behind Internet Restriction: China’s history of censorship is long and complex. It began with the Chinese imperial system, which sought to control information in order to maintain its authority.  During this time, books were heavily censored and any content that threatened the status quo was suppressed.  This trend has continued even after the collapse of the imperial system and into modern times.  The current Chinese government has sought to control the internet and its content, in a bid to maintain stability and promote their own nationalist agenda.  This is most notably seen through the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China’, which blocks access to certain websites that are deemed politically sensitive.  Additionally, Chinese citizens have limited freedom of expression online and must adhere to strict rules when it comes to content creation.  This is done in order to limit the spread of ‘harmful information’ and maintain social stability.  As such, Chinese citizens are unable to access many services and platforms that are freely available elsewhere in the world.  It is clear that China’s cultural and historical legacy has had a major impact on its current restrictions on internet access.
3. New Changes in Internet Censorship in China
   1. The article that really prompted my further research on this topic was an article by Stephanie Yang for the Los Angeles Times. In this article Yang brings up a few very interesting points about how internet censorship in China continues to rapidly evolve.  During my time researching internet censorship in China this semester, I have primarily been concerned about how the Chinese government is hiding information from the people who actually live in China.  I have not really been concerned about how the Chinese government may be hiding stats and figures from other countries as well.  In Yang’s article she documents how difficult it is now to access information about China’s internet if you are from an outside country.  She says that everyone is so focused on the Great Firewall and how it impacts people within China, but no one is focused on how many foreign researchers have had great difficulty accessing any information related to China and its government.  This is especially an issue nowadays with China’s government covering up facts related to its COVID outbreaks.  In the final version I will go more in-depth into some ways that the Chinese government is preventing outsiders from accessing their internet information.

References

Guardian News and Media. (2018, June 29). The Great Firewall of China: Xi Jinping’s internet shutdown. The Guardian. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jun/29/the-great-firewall-of-china-xi-jinpings-internet-shutdown

Yang, S. (2022, June 23). As China shuts out the world, internet access from abroad gets harder too. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-06-23/china-great-firewall-foreign-domestic-virtual-censorship