View source for Internet censorship in China

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{{About|Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China|Internet censorship in the Republic of China|Censorship in Taiwan#Internet censorship in Taiwan}}
{{See also|Mass surveillance in China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2019}}
{{Politics of China|expanded=Publicity}}
The [[People's Republic of China]] (PRC) [[internet censorship|censors]] both the publishing and viewing of online material. Many controversial events are censored from news coverage, preventing many Chinese citizens from knowing about the actions of their government, and severely restricting [[Freedom of the press in China|freedom of the press]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Media Censorship in China |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china |access-date=2021-11-13 |website=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |language=en |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726005300/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/media-censorship-china |url-status=live }}</ref> China's censorship includes the complete blockage of various websites, apps, and video games, inspiring the policy's nickname, the [[Great Firewall|Great Firewall of China]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Guo|first1=Steve|last2=Feng|first2=Guangchao|date=2012-03-01|title=Understanding Support for Internet Censorship in China: An Elaboration of the Theory of Reasoned Action|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-011-9177-8|journal=Journal of Chinese Political Science|language=en|volume=17|issue=1|pages=33–52|doi=10.1007/s11366-011-9177-8|s2cid=143709885|issn=1874-6357|access-date=8 November 2020|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410061039/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11366-011-9177-8|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> which [[List of websites blocked in mainland China#Table of high-ranking websites blocked in mainland China|blocks websites]]. Methods used to block websites and pages include [[DNS spoofing]], blocking access to [[IP address]]es, analyzing and filtering [[URL]]s, packet inspection, and [[TCP reset attack|resetting connections]].<ref name="howto">{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Chris |title=How the "Great Firewall of China" Works to Censor China's Internet |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/162092/htg-explains-how-the-great-firewall-of-china-works/ |website=howtogeek.com |date=10 September 2017 |publisher=How to geek |access-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815131540/https://www.howtogeek.com/162092/htg-explains-how-the-great-firewall-of-china-works/ |archive-date=15 August 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The government blocks [[website]] content and monitors [[Internet]] access.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1255127|title=Internet censorship in China – CNN iReport|access-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815063930/http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1255127|archive-date=15 August 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> As required by the government, major Internet platforms in China have established elaborate self-censorship mechanisms as well as [[Internet real-name system in China|implementing a real-name system]]. As of 2019, more than sixty online restrictions had been created by the [[Government of China]] and implemented by provincial branches of state-owned [[Internet service provider|ISPs]], [[Company|companies]] and organizations.<ref>{{cite web|title=II. How Censorship Works in China: A Brief Overview|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422063645/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm|archive-date=22 April 2015|access-date=30 August 2006|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Chinese Laws and Regulations Regarding Internet|url=http://www.chinaeclaw.com/english/showCategory.asp?Code=022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220052125/http://www.chinaeclaw.com/english/showCategory.asp?Code=022|archive-date=20 February 2012|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Chinaeclaw.com|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-40056223|title=全面实名后还有隐私吗——中国网民看"网络实名制"|publisher=BBC News|date=1 Jun 2017|language=zh|access-date=12 February 2023|archive-date=12 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212085708/https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-40056223|url-status=live}}</ref> Some companies hire teams and invest in powerful [[artificial intelligence]] algorithms to police and remove illegal online content.<ref>{{cite news|last=Yuan|first=Li|date=2 January 2019|title=Learning China's Forbidden History, So They Can Censor It|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/business/china-internet-censor.html|url-status=live|access-date=23 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229013834/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/business/china-internet-censor.html|archive-date=29 February 2020}}</ref> Despite restrictions, all websites except TikTok can still be accessible to Chinese users by using [[VPNs]], which are currently heavily restricted but not banned due to them often being used for business purposes.<ref name="forbes.com">{{Cite web |title=Are VPNs Legal? The Worldwide Guide – Forbes Advisor |url=https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/are-vpns-legal/ |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=www.forbes.com |date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=8 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608134303/https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/are-vpns-legal/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Amnesty International]] states that [[China]] has "the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world"<ref>[http://www.internetfreedom.org/Background.html#Firewall_of_Shame "Background: Firewall of Shame"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417034022/http://www.internetfreedom.org/Background.html#Firewall_of_Shame |date=17 April 2015 }} , Global Internet Freedom Consortium, 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref> and [[Reporters Without Borders]] stated in 2010 and 2012 that "China is the world's biggest prison for [[Netizen#In China|netizens]]."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/8/inside-china-719761130/?page=all "Inside China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826033438/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/8/inside-china-719761130/?page=all |date=26 August 2014 }} , Miles Yu, ''Washington Times'', 8 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref><ref>[https://en.rsf.org/china-china-12-03-2012,42077.html "2012 Internet Enemies: China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084633/https://en.rsf.org/china-china-12-03-2012%2C42077.html |date=19 August 2014 }} , Reporters Without Borders, 12 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.</ref> Freedom House rated China "Not Free" in the [[Freedom on the Net|Freedom on the Net 2023]] report.<ref name="freedom house 2023">{{cite web |title=Freedom on the Net 2023 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2023#footnote12_ng7ame1 |website=[[Freedom House]] |access-date=11 March 2024}}</ref>

Commonly alleged user offenses include communicating with organized groups abroad, signing controversial [[online petition]]s, and forcibly calling for government reform. The government has escalated its efforts to reduce coverage and commentary that is critical of the regime after a series of large [[Environmental law|anti-pollution]] and [[anti-corruption]] protests. Many of these protests were organized or publicized using [[instant messaging]] services, chat rooms, and text messages.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://wadsam.com/international-business-news/internet-users-in-rural-china-have-risen894/|title=China's Internet Users Go Mobile|date=21 July 2012|access-date=7 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507080306/https://wadsam.com/international-business-news/internet-users-in-rural-china-have-risen894/|archive-date=7 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> China's [[Internet police]] force was reported by official state media to be 2 million strong in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=China employs two million microblog monitors state media say|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24396957|access-date=15 October 2013|work=BBC News|date=4 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009222657/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24396957|archive-date=9 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2022, several Chinese social platforms announced that they would display user locations based on internet protocol (IP) addresses. These platforms include [[Quora]]-like [[Zhihu]], the domestic version of TikTok, [[TikTok|Douyin]], and video streaming platform [[Bilibili]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 Jul 2022 |url=https://pandaily.com/bilibili-begins-displaying-users-ip-location/ |title=Bilibili Begins Displaying Users' IP Location |access-date=22 September 2022 |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922065548/https://pandaily.com/bilibili-begins-displaying-users-ip-location/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The platforms display the province for users located in China or the country or region if the IP address of the user is located overseas. Users cannot disable this feature.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-social-media-display-user-093000041.html|title=Chinese social media to display user locations based on IP address, including platforms from ByteDance and Zhihu|date=17 April 2022|access-date=22 September 2022|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922065546/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-social-media-display-user-093000041.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://qz.com/2163704/chinas-internet-platforms-are-revealing-user-ip-locations/|title=China's internet platforms are revealing user location—and embarrassing nationalist bloggers|date=12 May 2022|access-date=4 Nov 2022|archive-date=4 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104013639/https://qz.com/2163704/chinas-internet-platforms-are-revealing-user-ip-locations|url-status=live}}</ref>

China's [[Special administrative regions of China|special administrative regions]] of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] are outside the Great Firewall.<ref>{{cite news |title=Can Netflix expand into China's censored media market? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/netlix-expand-china-censored-media-market-493834 |access-date=4 May 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=27 August 2016 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508004456/https://www.newsweek.com/netlix-expand-china-censored-media-market-493834 |archive-date=8 May 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, it was reported that the central government authorities have been closely monitoring Internet use in these regions (see [[Internet censorship in Hong Kong]]).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2011/eap/187483.htm|title=China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau) – Hong Kong|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=2018-07-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701191914/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2011/eap/187483.htm|archive-date=1 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=April 2025}}
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==Background==
{{Further|Censorship in China}}
The political and ideological background of Internet censorship is considered to be one of [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s favorite sayings in the early 1980s: "If you open a window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html|title=» Great Firewall of China Torfox|website=cs.stanford.edu|access-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104061437/http://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html|archive-date=4 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The saying is related to a period of the [[Chinese economic reform]] that became known as the [[socialist market economy]]. Superseding the political ideologies of the [[Cultural Revolution]], the reform led China towards a market economy, opening it up to foreign investors. Nonetheless, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) wished to protect its values and political ideas by "swatting flies" of other ideologies,<ref>R. MacKinnon "Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic discourse in China" Public Choice (2008) 134: p. 31–46, Springer</ref> with a particular emphasis on suppressing movements that could potentially threaten the stability of the country.

The Internet first arrived in the country in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-27 |title=Evolution of Internet in China |url=http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1378/20060323/t20060323_4285.shtml |access-date=2024-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527120608/http://www.edu.cn/introduction_1378/20060323/t20060323_4285.shtml |archive-date=27 May 2012 }}</ref> Since its arrival and the gradual rise of availability, the Internet has become a common communication platform and an important tool for sharing information. Just as the Chinese government had expected, the number of Internet users in China soared from less than one percent in 1994, when the Internet was introduced, to 28.8 percent by 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=» Great Firewall of China Torfox |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html |access-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616020904/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/FreedomOfInformationChina/category/great-firewall-of-china/index.html |archive-date=16 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1998, the CCP feared the [[China Democracy Party]] (CDP), organized in contravention of the [[Four Cardinal Principles]], would breed a powerful new network that CCP party elites might not be able to control resulting in the<ref>Goldman, Merle Goldman. Gu, Edward X. (2004). Chinese Intellectuals Between State and Market.  [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|0-415-32597-8}}</ref> CDP being immediately banned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Jack L. |last2=Wu |first2=Tim |title=Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-515266-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/whocontrolsinter00gold/page/91 91] |url=https://archive.org/details/whocontrolsinter00gold/page/91 }}</ref> That same year, the [[Golden Shield Project|Golden Shield project]] was created. The first part of the project lasted eight years and was completed in 2006. The second part began in 2006 and ended in 2008. The Golden Shield project was a database project in which the government could access the records of each citizen and connect China's security organizations. The government had the power to delete any comments online that were considered harmful.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Great Firewall of China|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-firewall-of-china |publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331034226/https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-firewall-of-china|archive-date=31 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 6 December 2002, 300 members in charge of the Golden Shield project came from 31 [[Province (China)|provinces]] and [[List of cities in China|cities]] across China to participate in a four-day inaugural "Comprehensive Exhibition on Chinese Information System".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adsale.com.hk/tw/iframe/anews-s3-n4.asp|title=Adsale Group – Adsale Corporate Website|access-date=31 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713051901/http://www.adsale.com.hk/tw/iframe/anews-s3-n4.asp|archive-date=13 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> At the exhibition, many Western technology products including [[Internet security]], [[video monitoring]], and [[facial recognition system]]s were purchased. According to [[Amnesty International]], around 30,000–50,000 Internet police have been employed by the Chinese government to enforce Internet laws.<ref name=amnesty>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org.au/china/comments/10926/ |title=What is internet censorship? |date=28 March 2008 |publisher=[[Amnesty International Australia]] |access-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427065800/http://www.amnesty.org.au/china/comments/10926/ |archive-date=27 April 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The Chinese government has described censorship as the method to prevent and eliminate "risks in the ideological field from the Internet".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-04/04/c_1124325852.htm|title=提升网络意识形态领域风险防范化解能力-中共中央网络安全和信息化委员会办公室|website=www.cac.gov.cn|access-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407150325/http://www.cac.gov.cn/2019-04/04/c_1124325852.htm|archive-date=7 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=|date=August 2020}}

==Legislative basis==
{{Further|Public opinion guidance}}[[File:Topology of the Chinese firewall.svg|thumb|right|A simplified topology of the Chinese firewall]]
The government of China defends its right to censor the Internet by claiming that this right extends from the country's own rules inside its borders. A white paper released in June 2010 reaffirmed the government's determination to govern the Internet within its borders under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Internet in China |url=http://www.china.org.cn/government/whitepaper/node_7093508.htm |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=[[China Internet Information Center]] |archive-date=21 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921102615/http://www.china.org.cn/government/whitepaper/node_7093508.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=August 2022}} The document states, "Laws and regulations prohibit the spread of information that contains content subverting state power, undermining national unity [or] infringing upon national honor and interests." It adds that foreign individuals and firms can use the Internet in China, but they must abide by the country's laws.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8727647.stm |title = China defends internet censorship |work = BBC News |first = Michael |last = Bristow |date = 8 June 2010 |access-date = 2 June 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190701023627/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8727647.stm |archive-date = 1 July 2019 |url-status = live }}</ref>

The Central Government of China started its [[Internet censorship]] with three regulations. The first regulation was called the Temporary Regulation for the Management of Computer Information Network International Connection. The regulation was passed in the 42nd Standing Convention of the State Council on 23 January 1996. It was formally announced on 1 February 1996, and updated again on 20 May 1997.<ref>Qiu, Jack L. Virtual Censorship in China: Keeping the Gate Between the Cyberspaces. International Journal of Communications Law and Policy. 4. 1999.</ref> The content of the first regulation stated that [[Internet service provider]]s be licensed and that Internet traffic goes through [[ChinaNet]], GBNet, [[CERNET]] or [[CSTNET]]. The second regulation was the Ordinance for Security Protection of Computer Information Systems. It was issued on 18 February 1994 by the State Council to give the responsibility of Internet security protection to the [[Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Public Security]].<ref>Taubman, G. (1998). 'A not-so world wide web: the Internet, China, and the challenges to the non-democratic rule.' Political Communication. 15, 255–272.</ref>

===Article 5 of the Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection, and Management Regulations===
The Ordinance regulation further led to the Security Management Procedures in Internet Accessing issued by the Ministry of Public Security in December 1997. The regulation defined "harmful information" and "harmful activities" regarding Internet usage.<ref>Guan, S. (1995). Intercultural communication (in Chinese). Beijing: Beijing University Press.</ref> Section Five of the Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection, and Management Regulations approved by the State Council on 11 December 1997 stated the following:

{{Blockquote|text=Article 5: No unit or fuchsia may use the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit the following kinds of information:

(1) Inciting to resist or breaking the Constitution or laws or the implementation of administrative regulations;

(2) Inciting to overthrow the government or the socialist system;

(3) Inciting division of the country, harming national unification;

(4) Inciting hatred or discrimination among nationalities or harming the unity of the nationalities;

(5) Making falsehoods or distorting the truth, spreading rumors, destroying the order of society;

(6) Promoting feudal superstitions, sexually suggestive material, gambling, violence, murder,

(7) Terrorism or inciting others to criminal activity; openly insulting other people or distorting the truth to slander people;

(8) Injuring the reputation of state organs;

(9) Other activities against the Constitution, laws or administrative regulations.|author=Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection and Management Regulations

(Approved by the State Council on December 11, 1997 and promulgated by the Ministry of Public Security on December 30, 1997)|title=}}

(The "units" stated above refer to [[work unit]]s ({{Lang-zh|c=单位|p=Dānwèi}}) or more broadly, workplaces). As of 2021, the regulations are still active and govern the activities of Internet users online.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Xu|first=Lehman, Lee &|title=Chinese Law {{!}} China: Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection and Management Regulations – 1997|url=http://www.lehmanlaw.com/resource-centre/laws-and-regulations/information-technology/computer-information-network-and-internet-security-protection-and-management-regulations-1997.html|access-date=2021-08-02|website=www.lehmanlaw.com|archive-date=10 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410061052/https://www.lehmanlaw.com/resource-centre/laws-and-regulations/information-technology/computer-information-network-and-internet-security-protection-and-management-regulations-1997.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Interim Regulations of the PRC on the Management of International Networking of Computer Information ===
In 1996, the [[Ministry of Commerce (China)|Ministry of Commerce]] created a set of regulations which prohibit connection to "international networks" or use of channels outside of those provided by official government service providers without prior approval or license from authorities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Interim Regulations on the Management of International Networking of Computer Information|url=http://www.asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/irotmoinoci880/|access-date=2021-08-01|website=www.asianlii.org|archive-date=30 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210530001104/http://asianlii.org/cn/legis/cen/laws/irotmoinoci880/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has since been superseded by the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology]] or MIIT. To this date this regulation is still used to prosecute and fine users who connect to international networks or use VPNs.
{{Blockquote|text=Article 6: To carry out international networking of computer information, the output and input channels provided by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in its public telecommunication network shall be used.

No units or individuals shall establish or use other channels for international networking on their own accord.

Article 14: Those that violate stipulations in articles 6, 8 and 10 shall be ordered by public security departments to stop networking, with a warning issued to them. They may also be imposed a fine below 15,000 yuan. If they have earned any illegal incomes, these incomes shall be confiscated.|title=Interim Regulations of the PRC on the Management of International Networking of Computer Information (1996)}}

===State Council Order No. 292===
In September 2000, State Council Order No. 292 created the first set of content restrictions for Internet content providers. China-based websites cannot link to overseas news websites or distribute news from overseas media without separate approval. Only "licensed print publishers" have the authority to deliver news online. These sites must obtain approval from state information offices and the State Council Information Agency. Non-licensed websites that wish to broadcast news may only publish information already released publicly by other news media. Article 11 of this order mentions that "content providers are responsible for ensuring the legality of any information disseminated through their services."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/exp/explaws.php |title = CECC: Freedom of Expression – Laws and Regulations |access-date = 2 August 2008 |archive-url = http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20040623205930/http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/exp/explaws.php |archive-date = 23 June 2004 |url-status = dead }}</ref> Article 14 gives Government officials full access to any kind of sensitive information they wish from providers of Internet services.

=== Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China ===
{{Main|Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China}}
On 6 November 2017, the [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] promulgated a [[Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China|cybersecurity law]] which among other things requires "network operators" to store data locally, hand over information when requested by state security organs and open software and hardware used by "critical information infrastructure" operators to be subject to national security review, potentially compromising source codes and security of encryption used by communications service providers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Translation: Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China (Effective June 1, 2017)|url=http://newamerica.org/cybersecurity-initiative/digichina/blog/translation-cybersecurity-law-peoples-republic-china/|access-date=2021-07-22|website=New America|language=en|archive-date=22 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722111828/https://www.newamerica.org/cybersecurity-initiative/digichina/blog/translation-cybersecurity-law-peoples-republic-china/|url-status=live}}</ref> The law is an amalgamation of all previous regulations related to Internet use and online censorship and unifies and institutionalises the legislative framework governing cyber control and content censorship within the country. Article 12 states that persons using networks shall not "overturn the socialist system, incite separatism" or "break national unity" further institutionalising the suppression of dissent online.<ref>{{Cite web|title=China's New Cybersecurity Law in Effect|url=https://www.gpminstitute.com/publications-resources/Global-Payroll-Magazine/august-september-2017/china%27s-new-cybersecurity-law-in-effect|access-date=2021-07-25|website=www.gpminstitute.com|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725194239/https://www.gpminstitute.com/publications-resources/Global-Payroll-Magazine/august-september-2017/china%27s-new-cybersecurity-law-in-effect|url-status=live}}</ref>  
{{Blockquote|text=Article 12: Any person and organization using networks shall abide by the Constitution and laws, observe public order, and respect social morality; they must not endanger cybersecurity, and must not use the Internet to engage in activities endangering national security, national honor, and national interests; they must not incite subversion of national sovereignty, overturn the socialist system, incite separatism, break national unity, advocate terrorism or extremism, advocate ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination, disseminate violent, obscene, or sexual information, create or disseminate false information to disrupt the economic or social order, or information that infringes on the reputation, privacy, intellectual property or other lawful rights and interests of others, and other such acts.|title=Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China (2017)|source=Chapter I.}}

=== Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China ===
{{Main|Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China}}
On 10 June 2021, the Data Security Law was promulgated and took effect on 1 September 2021. The law builds on the Cybersecurity Law and significantly extends China's [[extraterritorial jurisdiction]] of its current data regulations over new categories of data. It establishes new rules for businesses interacting with Chinese citizens, both inside and beyond China's borders, to follow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China |url=http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/c2759/c23934/202112/t20211209_385109.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=www.npc.gov.cn |archive-date=28 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228020017/http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/c2759/c23934/202112/t20211209_385109.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Analytics |first=F. P. |date=2024-01-01 |title=Why China's New Data Security Law Is a Warning for the Future of Data Governance |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/28/china-data-governance-security-law-privacy/ |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=Foreign Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002023/https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/28/china-data-governance-security-law-privacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=Article 2  This Law shall apply to data processing activities and security supervision and regulation of such activities within the territory of the People’s Republic of China.

Where data processing outside the territory of People’s Republic of China harms the national security, public interests, or the lawful rights and interests of individuals or organizations of the People’s Republic of China, legal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.|title=Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China (2021)|source=Chapter I.}}

==Enforcement==
In December 1997, the [[Ministry of Public Security (China)|Ministry of Public Security]] released new regulations that levied fines for "defaming government agencies, splitting the nation, and leaking state secrets." Violators could face a fine of up to [[Renminbi|CNY]] 15,000 (roughly US$1,800).<ref name="Harwit, Eric 2008">Harwit, Eric. "China's Telecommunications Revolution." New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.</ref> Banning appeared to be mostly uncoordinated and ad hoc, with some [[website]]s allowed in one city, yet similar sites blocked in another. The blocks were often lifted for special occasions. For example, ''[[The New York Times]]'' was unblocked when reporters in a private interview with [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of China|CCP General Secretary]] [[Jiang Zemin]] specifically asked about the block and he replied that he would look into the matter. During the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation|APEC]] summit in [[Shanghai]] during 2001, normally-blocked media sources such as [[CNN]], [[NBC]], and the ''[[Washington Post]]'' became accessible. Since 2001, blocks on Western media sites have been further relaxed, and all three of the sites previously mentioned were accessible from [[mainland China]]. However, access to ''the New York Times'' was denied again in December 2008.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/world/asia/20china.html?ref=todayspaper | work=The New York Times | title=China Blocks Access to The Times's Web Site | first=Keith | last=Bradsher | date=20 December 2008 | access-date=31 March 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502152306/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/20/world/asia/20china.html?ref=todayspaper | archive-date=2 May 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In the middle of 2005, China purchased over 200 routers from an American company, [[Cisco Systems]], which enabled the Chinese government to use more advanced censor technology.<ref>{{Cite news|url= http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1120959457574_23/?hub=TopStories|title= China cracks down on web use, with Western help|date= 9 July 2005|publisher= CTV|access-date= 17 December 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070820141249/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1120959457574_23/?hub=TopStories|archive-date= 20 August 2007|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/California/News/2011/06_-_June/Cisco_aided_Chinese_Internet_censorship,_lawsuit_says/|title=Cisco aided Chinese Internet censorship, lawsuit says|date=3 June 2011|publisher=Thomson Reuters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607032056/http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/California/News/2011/06_-_June/Cisco_aided_Chinese_Internet_censorship,_lawsuit_says/|archive-date=2011-06-07}}</ref> In February 2006, [[Google]], in exchange for equipment installation on Chinese soil, blocked websites which the Chinese government deemed illegal.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Google Under the Gun|magazine=Time|date=5 February 2006|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1156598,00.html|access-date=25 May 2017|first1=Lev|last1=Grossman|first2=Hannah|last2=Beech|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812145142/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1156598,00.html|url-status=live|archive-date=12 August 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Google reversed this policy in 2010, after they suspected that a Google employee passed information to the Chinese Government and inserted [[Backdoor (computing)|backdoors]] into their software.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Branigan|first1=Tania|title=Google investigates China staff over cyber attack|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/18/china-google-cyber-attack|access-date=23 January 2017|work=The Guardian|date=18 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202110850/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/18/china-google-cyber-attack|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Branigan|first1=Tania|title=Google row: China's army of censors battles to defeat the internet|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/23/google-hong-kong-china-censorship|access-date=23 January 2017|work=The Guardian|date=23 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202110908/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/23/google-hong-kong-china-censorship|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2011, the [[State Council Information Office]] announced the transfer of its offices which regulated the Internet to a new subordinate agency, the [[State Internet Information Office]] which would be responsible for regulating the [[Internet in China]]. The relationship of the new agency to other Internet regulation agencies in China was unclear from the announcement.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wines|first=Michael|title=China Creates New Agency for Patrolling the Internet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/world/asia/05china.html|access-date=5 May 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507163832/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/world/asia/05china.html|archive-date=7 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 26 August 2014, the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) was formally authorized by the state council to regulate and supervise all Internet content. It later launched a website called the [[Cyberspace Administration of China]] (CAC) and the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs. In February 2014, the Central Internet Security and Informatization and the [[Deep state|Deep State]] Leading Group was created in order to oversee cybersecurity and receive information from the CAC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2017/china |title=China Country Report &#124; Freedom on the Net 2017 |publisher=Freedomhouse.org |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523115759/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2017/china |archive-date=23 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Chairing the 2018 China Cyberspace Governance Conference on 20 and 21 April 2018, [[Xi Jinping]], [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]], committed to "fiercely crack down on criminal offenses including hacking, telecom fraud, and violation of citizens' privacy."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-04-21 |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/21/c_137127374.htm |title=Xinhua Headlines: Xi outlines blueprint to develop China's strength in cyberspace – Xinhua &#124; English.news.cn |publisher=Xinhuanet.com |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421162040/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/21/c_137127374.htm |archive-date=21 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Conference comes on the eve of the First Digital China Summit, which was held at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Centre in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-04-22 |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/22/c_137127632.htm |title=China's first driverless bus makes its debut ahead of Digital China Summit – Xinhua &#124; English.news.cn |publisher=Xinhuanet.com |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426004130/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/22/c_137127632.htm |archive-date=26 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 4 January 2019, the CAC started a project to take down pornography, violence, bloody content, horror, gambling, defrauding, Internet rumors, superstition, invectives, parody, threats, and proliferation of "bad lifestyles" and "bad popular culture".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/yuqing/2019-01/04/c_1210030391.htm |title=今日热点舆情(1月4日)"围堵"12类有害信息 打造清朗网络生态空间 |publisher=Xinhuanet.com |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105145434/http://www.xinhuanet.com/yuqing/2019-01/04/c_1210030391.htm |archive-date=5 January 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 10 January 2019, [[China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association]] announced a new regulation to censor short videos with controversial political or social content such as a "pessimistic outlook of millennials"{{Clarify|reason=|date=August 2020}}, "[[One-night stand|one night stands]]", "[[Marriage in modern China|non-mainstream views of love and marriage]]" as well as previously prohibited content deemed politically sensitive.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hn.xinhuanet.com/2019-01/10/c_1123971280.htm|title=网络短视频节目将先审后播 不得宣传"非主流婚恋观"|publisher=Xinhuanet.com|language=zh-cn|access-date=10 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110234946/http://www.hn.xinhuanet.com/2019-01/10/c_1123971280.htm|archive-date=10 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

China is planning to make [[deepfake]]s illegal which is described as the way to prevent "parody and pornography."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-05/13/c_1124488751.htm|title=新华调查：名人"画皮"、换脸恶搞、色情合成——AI视频换脸技术滥用调查-新华网|website=www.xinhuanet.com|access-date=14 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514065608/http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-05/13/c_1124488751.htm|archive-date=14 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2019, the CAC announced a regulation that said that Internet information providers and users in China who seriously violate related laws and regulations will be subject to [[Social Credit System]] blocklist. It also announces that Internet information providers and users who are not meeting the standard but mildly violation will be recorded in the List to Focus.<ref>{{cite news|date=29 July 2019|title=网络造谣者将被列入失信主体黑名单|url=http://epaper.legaldaily.com.cn/fzrb/content/20190729/Articel04004GN.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418091609/http://epaper.legaldaily.com.cn/fzrb/content/20190729/Articel04004GN.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 April 2021|language=zh-cn|work=Legal Daily|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref>

On 1 August 2022, the [[s:zh:互联网用户账号信息管理规定|Regulations on the Administration of Internet User Account Information]] were issued by the China Internet Information Office came into effect, which requires Internet accounts to fill in their real occupations, and user IP location will be displayed, while registration of some accounts in professional fields is even required to provide verification materials.<ref>{{cite news |author1=文东 |date=2022-07-22 |title=中国网络安全审查"组合拳"学者:全面管制时代来临 |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-launches-security-review-on-cnki-the-country-s-leading-academic-research-database-0722222/6666367.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802060605/https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-launches-security-review-on-cnki-the-country-s-leading-academic-research-database-0722222/6666367.html |archive-date=2022-08-02 |language=zh}}</ref>

During the [[2022 COVID-19 protests in China]], the CAC directed companies such as [[Tencent]] and [[ByteDance]] to intensify their censorship efforts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lin |first=Liza |title=China Clamps Down on Internet as It Seeks to Stamp Out Covid Protests |language=en-US |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-clamps-down-on-internet-as-it-seeks-to-stamp-out-covid-protests-11669905228 |access-date=2022-12-01 |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202024312/https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-clamps-down-on-internet-as-it-seeks-to-stamp-out-covid-protests-11669905228 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After 15 December 2022, the Regulations on the Administration of Internet Followers' Commenting Services came into force, which for the first time considered "likes" as a type of comment. In addition, the regulations state that public accounts must take the initiative to review the comments left by netizens. Some experts have pointed out that this means that netizens may be punished by the platform or the authorities for the content of their likes.<ref>{{cite news |author1=文灏 |date=2022-11-23 |title=中国网络审查新规12月上路 点赞"不良信息"也可能被追责 |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-new-censorship-rule-20221122/6845946.html |language=zh |access-date=28 November 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116131121/https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-new-censorship-rule-20221122/6845946.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Self-regulation===
Internet censorship in China has been called "a [[Panopticon (Internet culture)|panopticon]] that encourages [[self-censorship]] through the perception that users are being watched."<ref name="truefire">{{cite web|url= http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/chinas-eye-internet-fraud-14190.html|title= China's 'Eye on the Internet' a Fraud|access-date= 12 September 2007|website= ScienceBlog.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070915003116/http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/chinas-eye-internet-fraud-14190.html|archive-date= 15 September 2007|url-status= dead}}</ref> On 16 March 2002, the [[Internet Society of China]], a self-governing Chinese Internet industry body,<ref>{{cite book|last=Tai|first=Zixue|title=The Internet in China: cyberspace and civil society|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-97655-8|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-95XzS7l8QC&q=public+pledge+on+self-discipline+for+chinese+internet+industry+google&pg=PT123|access-date=22 April 2020|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001634/https://books.google.com/books?id=I-95XzS7l8QC&pg=PT123&lpg=PT123&dq=public+pledge+on+self-discipline+for+chinese+internet+industry+google&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> launched the [[Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the Chinese Internet Industry]], an agreement between the Chinese Internet industry regulator and companies that operate sites in China. In signing the agreement, web companies pledge to identify and prevent the transmission of information that Chinese authorities deem objectionable, including information that "breaks laws or spreads superstition or obscenity", or that "may jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability".<ref>{{cite news|first1=Bruce|last1=Einhorn|first2=Ben|last2=Elgin|title=The Great Firewall of China|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968055.htm|access-date=11 December 2011|newspaper=Business Week magazine|date=23 January 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114052610/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968055.htm|archive-date=14 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kine|first=Phelim|title=China's Internet Crackdown|url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/05/27/china-internet-web-censor-surveillance-technology-security-google-yahoo-green-dam.html|access-date=11 December 2011|newspaper=Forbes|date=27 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118123703/http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/27/china-internet-web-censor-surveillance-technology-security-google-yahoo-green-dam.html|archive-date=18 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Alfred|first=Hermida|title=Behind China's internet Red Firewall|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2234154.stm|access-date=11 December 2011|newspaper=BBC|date=3 September 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624104558/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2234154.stm|archive-date=24 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2006, the pledge had been signed by more than 3,000 entities operating websites in China.<ref>{{cite book|last=Karatzogianni|first=Athina|title=The politics of cyberconflict|year=2006|publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-39684-4|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fiKPBQe3A8UC&pg=PA135|access-date=22 April 2020|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001631/https://books.google.com/books?id=fiKPBQe3A8UC&pg=PA135&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

Internet platforms like [[Sina Corporation|Sina]] and [[Tencent QQ|QQ]] are not authorized to broadcast news or conduct interviews.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=David Daokui |title=China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict |date=2024 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0393292398 |location=New York, NY |author-link=David Daokui Li}}</ref>{{Rp|page=158}} In practice, such platforms do so with self-constraint, avoiding publicizing news which could run counter to the government.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=158}}

===Use of service providers===
Although the government does not have the physical resources to monitor all Internet chat rooms and forums, the threat of being shut down has caused Internet content providers to employ internal staff, colloquially known as "[[big mama]]s", who stop and remove forum comments which may be politically sensitive. In [[Shenzhen]], these duties are partly taken over by a pair of police-created cartoon characters, [[Jingjing and Chacha]], who help extend the online "police presence" of the Shenzhen authorities. These cartoons spread across the nation in 2007 reminding Internet users that they are being watched and should avoid posting "sensitive" or "harmful" material on the Internet.<ref name="Harwit, Eric 2008"/>

However, Internet content providers have adopted some counter-strategies. One is to post politically sensitive stories and remove them only when the government complains. In the hours or days in which the story is available online, people read it, and by the time the story is taken down, the information is already public. One notable case in which this occurred was in response to a school explosion in 2001, when local officials tried to suppress the fact the explosion resulted from children illegally producing [[fireworks]].<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/20010310/413811.html |script-title= zh:万载爆炸事件：新闻大战功与过 |publisher= people.com.cn |date= 10 March 2001 |language= zh-cn |access-date= 22 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101111225951/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shehui/20010310/413811.html |archive-date= 11 November 2010 |url-status= live }}</ref>

On 11 July 2003, the Chinese government [[ICP license|started granting licenses]] to businesses to open [[Internet cafe]] chains. Business analysts and foreign Internet operators regard the licenses as intended to clamp down on information deemed harmful to the Chinese government. In July 2007, the city of [[Xiamen]] announced it would ban anonymous online postings after text messages and online communications were used to rally protests against a proposed chemical plant in the city. Internet users will be required to provide proof of identity when posting messages on the more than 100,000 Web sites registered in Xiamen.<ref>{{Cite news|url= http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2007/07/07/chinese_city_bans_anonymous_web_postings/4057/|title= Chinese city bans anonymous web postings|access-date= 8 July 2007|date= 7 July 2007|publisher= United Press International|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070712092529/http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2007/07/07/chinese_city_bans_anonymous_web_postings/4057/|archive-date= 12 July 2007|url-status= live}}</ref>
The Chinese government issued new rules on 28 December 2012, requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for deleting forbidden postings and reporting them to the authorities. The new regulations, issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, allow Internet users to continue to adopt pseudonyms for their online postings, but only if they first provide their real names to service providers, a measure that could chill some of the vibrant discourse on the country's Twitter-like microblogs. The authorities periodically detain and even jail Internet users for politically sensitive comments, such as calls for a multiparty democracy or accusations of impropriety by local officials.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/world/asia/china-toughens-restrictions-on-internet-use.html | work=The New York Times | first=Keith | last=Bradsher | title=China Toughens Restrictions on Internet Use | date=28 December 2012 | access-date=22 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220200151/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/world/asia/china-toughens-restrictions-on-internet-use.html | archive-date=20 December 2016 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Arrests===
Fines and short arrests are becoming an optional punishment to whoever spreads undesirable information through the different Internet formats, as this is seen as a risk to social stability.<ref>[http://www.nbcmontana.com/technology/29274549/detail.html Social Media To Curb 'Rumors' In China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329113937/http://www.nbcmontana.com/technology/29274549/detail.html |date=29 March 2012 }} , by Jaime FlorCruz and Tian Shao, CNN, 22 September 2011</ref>

In 2001, [[Wang Xiaoning]] and other Chinese activists were arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for using a [[Yahoo!]] email account to post anonymous writing to an Internet mailing list.<ref>Cohn, William. "Yahoo's China Defense." New Presence: The Prague Journal of European Affairs September 2007: 10.2.</ref> On 23 July 2008, the family of Liu Shaokun was notified that he had been sentenced to one year [[re-education through labor]] for "inciting a disturbance". As a teacher in Sichuan province, he had taken photographs of collapsed schools and posted these photos online.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSPEK105816 China Quake School Critic Receives One-Year Sentence-Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007152932/http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSPEK105816 |date=7 October 2009 }} , Reuters, 30 July 2008</ref> On 18 July 2008, Huang Qi was formally arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing state secrets. Huang had spoken with the foreign press and posted information on his website about the plight of parents who had lost children in collapsed schools.<ref>[http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/63525 Case Update: Detained Rights Activist Huang Qi Formally Arrested] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015131222/http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/63525 |date=15 October 2008 }} , HRIC, 18 July 2008; Jake Hooker, [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/11/asia/11china.php Voice seeking answers for parents about school collapse in China is silenced] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802011307/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/11/asia/11china.php |date=2 August 2008 }} , International Herald Tribune, 11 July 2008; [http://hrichina.org/public/contents/56586 HRIC Press Release: Rights Activist Huang Qi Detained on Suspicion of Holding State Secrets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108235114/http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/56586 |date=8 January 2009 }} , 16 June 2008</ref> Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, used his Yahoo! email account to send a message to a U.S.-based pro-democracy website. In his email, he summarized a government order directing media organizations in China to downplay the upcoming 15th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists. Police arrested him in November 2004, charging him with "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities". In April 2005, he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and two years' subsequent deprivation of his political rights.<ref>[http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/cases/china-shi-tao Imprisoned for Peaceful Expression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602231331/http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/cases/china-shi-tao |date=2 June 2012 }} , Amnesty International</ref>

In mid-2013 police across China arrested hundreds of people accused of spreading false rumors online. The arrest targeted [[microbloggers]] who accused CCP officials of corruption, venality, and sexual escapades. The crackdown was intended to disrupt online networks of like-minded people whose ideas could challenge the authority of the CCP{{According to whom|date=August 2020}}. Some of China's most popular microbloggers{{Who|date=August 2020}} were arrested. In September 2013, China's highest court and prosecution office issued guidelines that define and outline penalties for publishing online rumors and slander. The rules give some protection to citizens who accuse officials of corruption, but a slanderous message forwarded more than 500 times or read more than 5,000 times could result in up to three years in prison.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/world/asia/china-cracks-down-on-online-opinion-makers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp "China Mounts Vigorous Crackdown on Popular Online Opinion Makers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403083529/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/world/asia/china-cracks-down-on-online-opinion-makers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp |date=3 April 2017 }} , Chris Buckley, ''New York Times'', 10 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.</ref>

In 2017, a Uyghur university student at [[Xinjiang University]], Mehmut Memtimin, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for using a VPN.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masing |first=Kent |date=2023-06-09 |title=Uyghur Student Jailed For 13 Years For Using VPN; Chinese Citizens Get Away With It |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/uyghur-student-jailed-13-years-using-vpn-chinese-citizens-get-away-it-3698837 |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=[[International Business Times]] |language=en-US |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002045/https://www.ibtimes.com/uyghur-student-jailed-13-years-using-vpn-chinese-citizens-get-away-it-3698837 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 8, 2023 |title=Uyghur university student serving 13-year sentence for using VPN |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/student-sentenced-06082023154805.html |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=[[Radio Free Asia]] |language=en}}</ref>

According to the 2020 [[Press Freedom Index|World Press Freedom Index]], compiled by [[Reporters Without Borders]], China is the world's biggest jailer of journalists, holding around 100 in detention. In February 2020, China arrested two of its citizens for taking it upon themselves to cover the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus |title=2020 World Press Freedom Index: "Entering a decisive decade for journalism, exacerbated by coronavirus" |date=19 April 2020 |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-date=27 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527115329/https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2020}}

On 10 May 2021 blogger [[Ruan Xiaohuan]] was arrested by the [[Shanghai]] police.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Vivian |date=2023-07-05 |title=China Took Her Husband. She Was Left to Uncover His Secret Cause. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/asia/china-dissident-blog-program-think.html |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=The New York Times |language=en-US |archive-date=21 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721020513/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/05/world/asia/china-dissident-blog-program-think.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was convicted of "[[inciting subversion of state power]]" for his blog, ''ProgramThink'', which was critical of the regime.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gullo |first=Karen |date=2023-06-09 |title=China Must Release Program Think Blogger Ruan Xiaohuan, Champion of Free Expression Who Spoke Out Against Censorship and Oppression |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/china-must-release-program-think-blogger-ruan-xiaohuan-champion-free-expression |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615102952/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/china-must-release-program-think-blogger-ruan-xiaohuan-champion-free-expression |url-status=live }}</ref> His wife, Bei Zhenying, was apparently warned by authorities against discussing the case.<ref name=":2" />

==Technical implementation==
===Current methods===
{{main|Great Firewall of China#Blocking methods}}

The Great Firewall has used numerous methods to block content, including IP dropping, [[DNS spoofing]], [[deep packet inspection]] for finding plain text signatures within the handshake to [[Bandwidth throttling|throttle]] [[Cryptographic protocol|protocols]],<ref>{{cite AV media |date=16 November 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z56andRyCY |title=Defcon 21 – Defeating Internet Censorship with Dust, the Polymorphic Protocol Engine |publisher=HackersOnBoard |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701101113/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z56andRyCY |archive-date=1 July 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> and more recently active probing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://conferences2.sigcomm.org/imc/2015/papers/p445.pdf |title=Info |publisher=conferences2.sigcomm.org |access-date=27 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623150642/http://conferences2.sigcomm.org/imc/2015/papers/p445.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=China WhatsApp crackdown only scratches surface of worsening internet censorship|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/asia/china-internet-censorship/index.html|access-date=3 May 2018|work=CNN|date=2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503180833/https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/asia/china-internet-censorship/index.html|archive-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=What Is Deep Packet Inspection?|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/249137/what_is_deep_packet_inspection_.html|access-date=3 May 2018|work=PCWorld|date=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140350/https://www.pcworld.com/article/249137/what_is_deep_packet_inspection_.html|archive-date=11 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Large language model]]s are also used to detect dissident.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rollet |first=Charles |date=2025-03-26 |title=Leaked data exposes a Chinese AI censorship machine |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/26/leaked-data-exposes-a-chinese-ai-censorship-machine/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250328052453/https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/26/leaked-data-exposes-a-chinese-ai-censorship-machine/ |archive-date=2025-03-28 |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=[[TechCrunch]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Golden shield project ===
The [[Golden Shield Project]] maintained and constructed by the [[Ministry of Public Security (China)|Ministry of Public Security]] (MPS) of the People's Republic of China started in 1998, began processing in November 2003, and the first part of the project passed the national inspection on 16 November 2006 in Beijing. According to MPS, its purpose is to construct a communication network and computer information system for police to improve their capability and efficiency. By 2002, the preliminary work of the Golden Shield Project had cost "US$800 million (equivalent to RMB 6,400 million or €640 million)."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking Through the "Golden Shield" |url=https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/e7d8b223-df0a-4975-b40b-c9914a58b626/china-internet-censorship-20041101.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=opensocietyfoundations.org |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002049/https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/e7d8b223-df0a-4975-b40b-c9914a58b626/china-internet-censorship-20041101.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Greg Walton, a freelance researcher, said that the aim of the Golden Shield is to establish a "gigantic online database" that would include "speech and face recognition, [[closed-circuit television]]... [and] credit records" as well as traditional Internet use records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/globalization/CGS_ENG.PDF |title=China's Golden Shield |first=Greg |last=Walton |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706175552/http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/globalization/CGS_ENG.PDF |archive-date=6 July 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

A notice<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/ministry-of-industry-and-information-technology/ |title=China News: Ministry of Industry And Information Technology |work=China Digital Times |access-date=27 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404175724/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/ministry-of-industry-and-information-technology/ |archive-date=4 April 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> issued by the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology]] on 19 May stated that, as of 1 July 2009, manufacturers must ship machines to be sold in mainland China with the [[Green Dam Youth Escort]] software.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last=Chao |first=Loretta |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124440211524192081 |title=China Squeezes PC Makers |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=8 June 2009 |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711004558/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124440211524192081 |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 14 August 2009, [[Li Yizhong]], minister of industry and information technology, announced that computer manufacturers and retailers were no longer obliged to ship the software with new computers for home or business use, but that schools, Internet cafes and other public use computers would still be required to run the software.

A senior official of the [[State Council Information Office#Internet Affairs Bureau|Internet Affairs Bureau of the State Council Information Office]] said the software's only purpose was "to filter pornography on the Internet". The general manager of Jinhui, which developed Green Dam, said: "Our software is simply not capable of spying on Internet users, it is only a filter."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Porn filters 'are not spyware' |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-06/09/content_8265562.htm |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002026/https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-06/09/content_8265562.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Human rights advocates in China have criticized the software for being "a thinly concealed attempt by the government to expand censorship".<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Jacobs |title=Experts Say Chinese Filter Would Make PCs Vulnerable |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13china.html?ref=world |work=The New York Times |date=13 June 2009 |access-date=13 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531075626/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13china.html?ref=world |archive-date=31 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Online polls conducted on [[Sina.com|Sina]], [[Netease]], [[Tencent QQ|Tencent]], [[Sohu]], and ''Southern Metropolis Daily'' revealed over 70% rejection of the software by [[netizen]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/86243.htm |trans-title=Polls by four leading portals say over 80% of netizens "reject" Green Dam |script-title=zh:四大门户调查显示：超八成网友"拒绝"绿坝 |language=zh |publisher=cnBeta.com |date=11 June 2009 |access-date=11 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625082358/http://www.cnbeta.com/articles/86243.htm |archive-date=25 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://tech.163.com/09/0611/03/5BGEP73T000915BD.html|script-title=zh:八成网友拒装"绿坝"，金惠、大正受命封口|trans-title=80% of netizens refuse to install "Green Dam"; Jinhui, Dazheng ordered to remain silent|first=Gao|last=ingyun|newspaper=Southern Metropolis Daily|date=11 June 2009|access-date=11 June 2009|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615071317/http://tech.163.com/09/0611/03/5BGEP73T000915BD.html|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> However, [[Xinhua]] commented that "support [for Green Dam] largely stems from end users, opposing opinions primarily come from a minority of media outlets and businesses."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/12/content_11532769.htm|script-title=zh:过滤软件之争"争的是什么|trans-title=What is controversial about the filter software controversy?|agency=Xinhua|date=12 June 2009|access-date=13 June 2009|language=zh|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615070200/http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/12/content_11532769.htm|archive-date=15 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.danwei.org/state_media/everyone_loves_content_filters.php|title=Everyone loves content filters, Xinhua says|first=Joel|last=Martinsen|publisher=Danwei.org|date=12 June 2009|access-date=12 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616081139/http://www.danwei.org/state_media/everyone_loves_content_filters.php|archive-date=16 June 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Political scientist Margaret Roberts contends that most Chinese censorship methods do not ban information outright but instead function "as a tax on information, forcing users to pay money or spend more time if they want to access the censored material."<ref name=":Laikwan">{{Cite book |last=Laikwan |first=Pang |title=One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty |date=2024 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=9781503638815 |location=Stanford, CA |pages=174 |doi=10.1515/9781503638822}}</ref>

==Targets of censorship==

===Targeted content===
{{See also|List of websites blocked in mainland China}}
According to a [[Harvard University|Harvard]] study, at least 18,000 websites were blocked from within mainland China in 2002,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ |date = March 2003 | title = Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China | access-date = 30 December 2006 | first1= Jonathan | last1 = Zittrain | first2 = Benjamin | last2 = Edelman | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150515143108/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ | archive-date = 15 May 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref> including 12 out of the Top 100 Global Websites. The Chinese-sponsored news agency, Xinhua, stated that censorship targets only "superstitious, pornographic, violence-related, gambling, and other harmful information."<ref>China and the Internet. International Debates, 15420345, Apr2010, Vol. 8, Issue 4</ref> This appears questionable, as the e-mail provider [[Gmail]] is blocked, and it cannot be said to fall into any of these categories.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.greatfire.org/gmail.com|access-date=9 September 2014|title=GreatFire.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911002139/https://en.greatfire.org/gmail.com|archive-date=11 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> On the other hand, websites centered on the following political topics are often censored: [[Falun Gong]],<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ |title=Empirical Analysis of Internet Filtering in China |first1=Jonathan|last1=Zittrain|first2=Benjamin|last2=Edelman |work=IEEE Internet Computing (March/April 2003) |publisher=Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School (Cyber.law.harvard.edu) |date=20 March 2003 |access-date=1 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515143108/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ |archive-date=15 May 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[police brutality]], the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]], [[freedom of speech]], [[democracy]],<ref name="youtubeblock">{{cite news|url= http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0224/p01s04-woap.html|title= China's media censorship rattling world image|last= Marquand|first= Robert|date= 4 February 2006|newspaper= [[Christian Science Monitor]]|access-date= 25 February 2006|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150926111156/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0224/p01s04-woap.html|archive-date= 26 September 2015|url-status= live}}</ref> the [[Tibetan independence movement]],<ref name="autogenerated1" /> and the Tuidang movement.<ref>Xia, Bill. "Google.cn's Self Censorship." Chinascope. May/June 2008.</ref> According to a 2023 report by [[Human Rights Watch]], content that criticizes [[racism in China]] will often be censored.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=William |date=August 16, 2023 |title=Chinese Social Media Platforms Fail to Control Racism Against Black People: Report |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-social-media-platforms-fail-to-control-racism-against-black-people-report/7227458.html |access-date=August 16, 2023 |quote=Videos or posts that promote racial equality or criticize racism in China will often be censored after becoming a trending topic on Chinese social media platforms. |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817022753/https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-social-media-platforms-fail-to-control-racism-against-black-people-report/7227458.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Testing performed by [[Freedom House]] in 2011 confirmed that material written by or about activist bloggers is removed from the Chinese Internet in a practice that has been termed "cyber-disappearance".<ref>[http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/07/14/2003508163 "'Cyberdisappearance' taking hold"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103184336/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/07/14/2003508163 |date=3 November 2013 }} , Sarah Cook, ''Taipei Times'', 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/china-media-bulletin-issue-no-29#2 "CMB special feature: Cyberdisappearance in Action"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201081340/https://freedomhouse.org/article/china-media-bulletin-issue-no-29#2 |date=1 December 2017 }} , China Media Bulletin: Issue No. 29 (14 July 2011), Freedom House. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref><ref>[http://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Cyberdisappearance%20in%20Action_special_feature-FINAL_0.pdf "Cyberdisappearance in Action"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104201214/http://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Cyberdisappearance%20in%20Action_special_feature-FINAL_0.pdf |date=4 November 2013 }} , Sarah Cook, Freedom House, 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2013.</ref>

A 2012 study of social media sites by other Harvard researchers found that 13% of Internet posts were blocked. The blocking focused mainly on any form of collective action (anything from false rumors driving riots to protest organizers to large parties for fun), pornography, and criticism of the censors. However, significant criticisms of the government were not blocked when made separately from calls for collective action. Another study has shown comments on social media that criticize the state, its leaders, and their policies are usually published, but posts with collective action potential will be more likely to be censored whether they are against the state or not.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=King|first1=Gary|last2=Pan|first2=Jennifer|last3=Roberts|first3=Margaret E.|date=22 August 2014|title=Reverse-engineering censorship in China: Randomized experimentation and participant observation|journal=Science|volume=345|issue=6199|page=1251722|doi=10.1126/science.1251722|issn=0036-8075|pmid=25146296|s2cid=5398090|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37091695|access-date=31 August 2019|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001559/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/37091695|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A lot of larger Japanese websites were blocked from the afternoon of 15 June 2012 (UTC+08:00) to the morning of 17 June 2012 (UTC+08:00), such as Google Japan, Yahoo! Japan, Amazon Japan, Excite, Yomiuri News, Sponichi News and Nikkei BP Japan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/china-japan-blocked-bo-xilai-2012-6?r=US&IR=T=China|title=UNPRECEDENTED: China Blocked Every Japanese Domain For Almost Two Days Last Week|date=19 June 2012|work=Business Insider Australia|access-date=10 May 2017|archive-date=12 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712042422/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-japan-blocked-bo-xilai-2012-6?r=US&IR=T=China|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chinese censors have been relatively reluctant to block websites where there might be significant economic consequences. For example, a block of [[GitHub]] was reversed after widespread complaints from the Chinese [[software developer]] community.<ref>[https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2013/jan/china-github-and-man-middle China, GitHub and the man-in-the-middle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819165216/https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2013/jan/china-github-and-man-middle |date=19 August 2016 }}  ''greatfire.org'' 30 January 2013</ref> In November 2013 after the Chinese services of [[Reuters]] and the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' were blocked, [[GreatFire]] mirrored the Reuters website to an [[Amazon.com]] domain in such a way that it could not be shut down without shutting off domestic access to all of Amazon's [[cloud storage service]].<ref>[https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2013/nov/look-ma-i-can-see-through-great-firewall I can see through the Great Firewall!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203061052/https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2013/nov/look-ma-i-can-see-through-great-firewall |date=3 December 2013 }}  ''greatfire.org'' 17 November 2013</ref>

For one month beginning 17 November 2014, [[ProPublica]] tested whether the homepages of 18 international news organizations were accessible to browsers inside China, and found the most consistently blocked were ''[[Bloomberg News]]'', [[The New York Times|''The'' ''New York Times'']], ''[[South China Morning Post]]'', [[The Wall Street Journal|''The'' ''Wall Street Journal'']], Facebook, and Twitter.<ref>[https://projects.propublica.org/firewall/ Inside the Firewall: Tracking the News That China Blocks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605095642/https://projects.propublica.org/firewall/ |date=5 June 2015 }} , ProPublica, 17 December 2014.</ref> Internet censorship and surveillance has been tightly implemented in China that block social websites like Gmail, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. The censorship practices of the Great Firewall of China have now impacted the VPN service providers as well.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=August 22, 2024 |title=Why are VPNs getting slower in China? |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2024/08/22/why-are-vpns-getting-slower-in-china |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-08-22 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> In November 2024, despite being previously blocked, [[OnlyFans]] became available in mainland China, according to GreatFire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Liu |first=Juliana |date=2024-12-05 |title=OnlyFans is now accessible in China |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/tech/china-onlyfans-accessible-hnk-intl/index.html |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=[[CNN Business]] |language=en}}</ref>

==== Artificial intelligence training data ====
{{Further|Artificial intelligence industry in China}}
In 2023, in-country access was blocked to [[Hugging Face]], a company that maintains [[Library (computing)|libraries]] containing [[Training, validation, and test data sets|training data sets]] commonly used for [[large language model]]s.<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Lin |first=Liza |date=July 15, 2024 |title=China Puts Power of State Behind AI—and Risks Strangling It |url=https://www.wsj.com/tech/china-puts-power-of-state-behind-aiand-risks-strangling-it-f045e11d |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 16, 2024 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716031258/https://www.wsj.com/tech/china-puts-power-of-state-behind-aiand-risks-strangling-it-f045e11d |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Search engines===
{{See also|Censorship by Google#China}}
One part of the block is to filter the search results of certain terms on Chinese [[search engines]] such as [[Sogou]], [[Qihoo|360 Search]] and [[Baidu]]. Attempting to search for censored keywords in these Chinese search engines will yield few or no results.

In addition, a connection containing intensive censored terms may also be closed by The Great Firewall, and cannot be re-established for several minutes. This affects all network connections including [[HTTP]] and [[Post Office Protocol|POP]], but the reset is more likely to occur during searching. Before the search engines censored themselves, many search engines had been blocked.

===Discussion forums===
[[File:Screenshot of Dusanben.com maintenance page, 2009.png|thumb|"''For reason which everyone knows, and to suppress our extremely unharmonious thoughts, this site is <span style="color:red;">voluntarily</span> closed for technical maintenance between 3 and 6 June 2009...''" Dusanben.com (translation)]]
Several [[Bulletin Board System]]s in universities were closed down or restricted public access since 2004, including the [[SMTH BBS]] and the [[YTHT]] BBS.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2005/03/students_protes.php| title = Students protest restrictions on most influential BBS| date = 20 March 2005| work = [[China Digital Times]]| access-date = 18 May 2006| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051029012334/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2005/03/students_protes.php| archive-date = 29 October 2005| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}</ref>

In September 2007, some data centers were shut down indiscriminately for providing interactive features such as blogs and forums. [[CBS]] reports an estimate that half the interactive sites hosted in China were blocked.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/25/tech/main3295146.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105030631/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/25/tech/main3295146.shtml|url-status=dead|title=Why Did China Shut Down 18,401 Web sites?|website=[[CBS News]]|archive-date=5 January 2008}}</ref>

Coinciding with the twentieth anniversary of the government suppression of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square]], the government ordered Internet portals, forums and discussion groups to shut down their servers for maintenance between 3 and 6 June 2009.<ref name=servermaintenance>{{cite news
|title=Hundreds of websites shut down as censors order 'server maintenance' |date=4 June 2009 |page =A3 |first=Peter |last=So |work=South China Morning Post}}</ref> The day before the mass shut-down, Chinese users of Twitter, [[Hotmail]] and [[Flickr]], among others, reported a widespread inability to access these services.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites/ |work=The Wall Street Journal (WSJ Blogs) |date=3 June 2009 |title=Closed for Business: More Chinese Web Sites |first=Sky |last=Canaves |access-date=4 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923040200/https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites/ |archive-date=23 September 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Social media===
The censorship of individual social media posts in China usually occurs in two circumstances:

1. Corporations/government hire censors to read individual social media posts and manually take down posts that violate policy. (Although the government and media often use the microblogging service [[Sina Weibo]] to spread ideas and monitor corruption, it is also supervised and self-censored by 700 Sina censors.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2048171-1,00.html Wired Up] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018140502/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2048171-1,00.html |date=18 October 2011 }} , written by Austin Ramzy, Time Magazine, 17 February 2011</ref> )

2. Posts that will be primarily auto-blocked based on keyword filters, and decide which ones to publish later.<ref name=":1" />

In the second half of 2009, the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter were blocked, presumably because of containing social or political commentary (similar to LiveJournal in the above list). An example is the commentary on the [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/07/chinas-facebook-status-blocked.html |title=China's Facebook Status: Blocked |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711081856/http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/07/chinas-facebook-status-blocked.html |archive-date=11 July 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/china-blocks-access-to-twitter-facebook-after-riots/|title=China Blocks Access To Twitter, Facebook After Riots|date=7 July 2009 |access-date=27 December 2019|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001600/https://techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/china-blocks-access-to-twitter-facebook-after-riots/|url-status=live}}</ref> Another reason suggested for the block is that activists can utilize them to organize themselves.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-02-china-twitter-tiananmen-protests_N.htm | title=Social-networking sites Twitter, Flickr go dark in China | work=USA Today | first=Jon | last=Swartz | date=3 June 2009 | access-date=5 May 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823072454/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-06-02-china-twitter-tiananmen-protests_N.htm | archive-date=23 August 2009 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/internet-activists-discuss-online-democracy-20091122-isc9.html | title=Internet activists discuss online democracy | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | first=Ciaran | last=Giles | date=22 November 2009 | access-date=14 December 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123185955/http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/internet-activists-discuss-online-democracy-20091122-isc9.html | archive-date=23 November 2009 | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, [[Chinese human rights]] activist [[Liu Xiaobo]] became a forbidden topic in Chinese media due to his winning the [[2010 Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2010/xiaobo.html|title=The Nobel Peace Prize 2010 Liu Xiaobo|access-date=13 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526074612/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2010/xiaobo.html|archive-date=26 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Keywords and images relating to the activist and his life were again blocked in July 2017, shortly after his death.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/07/citizen-lab-scope-censorship-expands-liu-xiaobos-death/|title=Scope of Censorship Expands After Liu Xiaobo Death – China Digital Times (CDT)|date=17 July 2017|work=China Digital Times (CDT)|access-date=2017-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915144819/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/07/citizen-lab-scope-censorship-expands-liu-xiaobos-death/|archive-date=15 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the 2011 [[Wenzhou train collision]], the government started emphasizing the danger in spreading 'false rumours' (yaoyan), making the permissive usage of Weibo and social networks a public debate.<ref>[http://www.thinkingchinese.com/fighting-rumors-a-new-way-to-supervise-the-chinese-internet-sphere Fighting rumors: A new way to supervise the Chinese internet sphere] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323072630/http://www.thinkingchinese.com/fighting-rumors-a-new-way-to-supervise-the-chinese-internet-sphere |date=23 March 2012 }} , [http://www.thinkingchinese.com Thinking Chinese] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426031903/http://thinkingchinese.com/ |date=26 April 2011 }} , 3 October 2011</ref>

In 2012, [[First Monday (journal)|''First Monday'']] published an article on "political ''content'' censorship in social media, i.e., the active deletion of messages published by individuals."<ref>Bamman, David, Brendan O'Connor and Noah A. Smith, [http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3943/3169 Censorship and Deletion Practices in Chinese Social Media] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201164040/http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3943/3169 |date=1 February 2013 }} , ''[[First Monday (journal)|First Monday]]'' 17.3 (March 2012).</ref> This academic study, which received extensive media coverage,<ref>Marks, Paul, [https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21553-revealed-how-china-censors-its-social-networks.html Revealed: How China censors its social networks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420081455/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21553-revealed-how-china-censors-its-social-networks.html |date=20 April 2015 }} , ''New Scientist'' 8 March 2012.</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17313793 China's social networks hit by censorship, says study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201194943/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17313793 |date=1 February 2019 }} , BBC News, 9 March 2012.</ref> accumulated a dataset of 56 million messages sent on Sina Weibo from June through September 2011, and statistically analyzed them three months later, finding 212,583 deletions out of 1.3 million sampled, more than 16 percent. The study revealed that censors quickly deleted words with politically controversial meanings (e.g., ''qingci'' 请辞 "asking someone to resign" referring to calls for Railway Minister [[Sheng Guangzu]] to resign after the Wenzhou train collision on 23 July 2011), and also that the rate of message deletion was regionally anomalous (compare censorship rates of 53% in [[Tibet]] and 52% in [[Qinghai]] with 12% in [[Beijing]] and 11.4% in Shanghai). In another study conducted by a research team led by political scientist [[Gary King (political scientist)|Gary King]], objectionable posts created by King's team on a social networking site were almost universally removed within 24 hours of their posting.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/10/how-internet-censorship-actually-works-in-china/280188/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125083020/http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/10/how-internet-censorship-actually-works-in-china/280188/ |date=25 November 2016 }} , ''The Atlantic'', 2 October 2013.</ref>

The comment areas of popular posts which mentioned [[Vladimir Putin]] on Sina Weibo were shut down during the [[2017 G20 Hamburg summit]] in Germany. It is a rare example that a foreign leader is granted the safety from a popular judgment on the Chinese Internet, which usually only granted to the [[List of Chinese leaders|Chinese]] leaders. This move by the Chinese Government may be related to their close ties with Russia and Putin himself.<ref>China's Weibo blocks potential criticism of Vladimir Putin, Financial Times.</ref>

However, a study by American researchers of 13.2 billion Weibo blog posts over the period 2009–2013 found that many sensitive topics were discussed, including on ethnic conflict, political scandals, and protests.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Jin |first=Keyu |title=The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism |date=2023 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-1-9848-7828-1 |location=New York |author-link=Keyu Jin}}</ref>{{Rp|page=139}}

====WeChat====
[[WeChat]] is the dominant [[social media]] and [[instant messaging|messaging]] app in China, and is also the most popular messaging application for most [[Chinese people|Chinese]] nationals staying overseas. Though subject to state rules which saw individual posts removed,<ref name="RoneyWechat"/><ref name="MckirdyWechat"/> [[Tech in Asia]] reported in 2013 that certain "restricted words" had been blocked on WeChat globally.<ref name="MillwardWechat">{{cite news|title=Now China's WeChat App is Censoring Its Users Globally|date=10 January 2013|first=Steven|last=Millward|url=https://www.techinasia.com/china-wechat-censoring-users-globally|work=[[Tech in Asia]]|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=15 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215015651/https://www.techinasia.com/china-wechat-censoring-users-globally|url-status=live}}</ref> A crackdown in March&nbsp;2014 deleted dozens of WeChat accounts, some of which were independent news channels with hundreds of thousands of followers.<ref name="RoneyWechat">{{cite news|title=China's sudden WeChat Crackdown|date=14 March 2014|first=Tyler|last=Roney|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/03/chinas-sudden-wechat-crackdown/|work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]|publisher=Trans-Asia Inc|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=6 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201006050231/https://thediplomat.com/2014/03/chinas-sudden-wechat-crackdown/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MckirdyWechat"/> [[CNN]] reported that the blocks were related to laws banning the spread of political "rumors".<ref name="MckirdyWechat">{{cite news|title=WeChat's conversations gagged: Are China's censors behind it?|date=17 March 2014|first=Euan|last=McKirdy|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/wechat-censorship/index.html|website=[[CNN]]|publisher=Warner Media|access-date=5 September 2020|archive-date=1 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001052524/https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/wechat-censorship/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The state-run [[Xinhua News Agency]] reported in July&nbsp;2020 that the CAC would conduct an intensive three-month investigation and cleanup of 13 media platforms, including WeChat.<ref>{{cite news |last=Yu |first=Junjie |date=29 July 2020 |title=To safeguard national security, it is time for China to build up nuclear deterrent |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-07/29/c_1126301557.htm |work=[[Xinhua News]] |access-date=30 July 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802125828/http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-07/29/c_1126301557.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===SSL protocols ===
In March 2020, China suddenly started blocking websites using the TLS ([[Transport Layer Security|Transport Layer Security 1.3]]) and ESNI (Encrypted Server Name Indicator) for [[Public key certificate|SSL certificates]], since ESNI makes it difficult if not impossible to identify the name of a website based on the server name displayed in its SSL certificate.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-27|title=China Now Blocking HTTPS Traffic Using TLS 1.3 and ESNI|url=https://hide.me/en/blog/china-now-blocking-https-traffic-using-tls-1-3-and-esni/|access-date=2021-07-22|website=hide.me|language=en-US|archive-date=22 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722164328/https://hide.me/en/blog/china-now-blocking-https-traffic-using-tls-1-3-and-esni/|url-status=live}}</ref> Since May 2015, [[Chinese Wikipedia]] has been blocked in mainland China.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/05/22/wikipedia-disturbed-over-fresh-china-censorship/#377839ae112a|title=Wikipedia Disturbed Over Fresh China Censorship|last=Fox-Brewster|first=Thomas|date=22 May 2015|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503043534/https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2015/05/22/wikipedia-disturbed-over-fresh-china-censorship/#377839ae112a|archive-date=3 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Chinese Wikipedia Blocked by Great Firewall|url=http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/05/chinese-wikipedia-blocked-by-great-firewall/|publisher=China Digital Times (CDT)|access-date=4 May 2017|date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504212406/http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/05/chinese-wikipedia-blocked-by-great-firewall/|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> This was done after Wikipedia started to use [[HTTPS]] encryption, which made selective censorship more difficult (see also [[Wikimedia blockade in mainland China]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Wikimedia Foundation Turns On HTTPS By Default Across All Sites, Including Wikipedia|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/12/the-wikimedia-foundation-turns-on-https-by-default-across-all-sites-including-wikipedia/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=TechCrunch|date=12 June 2015 |language=en-US|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001601/https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/12/the-wikimedia-foundation-turns-on-https-by-default-across-all-sites-including-wikipedia/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== VPN protocols ===
In 2017, [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] started removing all VPN apps from Apple app stores at the behest of the Chinese government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Choudhury |first=Saheli Roy |date=2017-08-02 |title=Apple removes VPN apps in China as Beijing doubles down on censorship |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/apple-removes-vpn-apps-in-china-app-store.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109023820/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/apple-removes-vpn-apps-in-china-app-store.html |archive-date=9 November 2017 |access-date=2021-07-25 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref>

Beginning in 2018, the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology]] (MIIT) in conjunction with the [[Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission|Cyberspace Administration Commission]] (CAC) began a sweeping crackdown on all VPN providers, ordering all major state owned telecommunications providers including [[China Telecom]], [[China Mobile]] and [[China Unicom]] to block VPN protocols with only authorized users who have obtained permits beforehand to access VPNs (provided they are operated by state-owned telecommunications companies).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-07-11|title=China moves to block Internet VPNs from 2018|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/11/china-moves-to-block-internet-vpns-from-2018|access-date=2021-07-25|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814134622/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/11/china-moves-to-block-internet-vpns-from-2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Increased government crackdowns on VPNs have reduced their overall speeds, according to [[GreatFire]].<ref name=":4" />

Although China restricts VPNs, they remain widely used by private individuals.<ref name=":9222">{{Cite book |last=Šebok |first=Filip |title=Contemporary China: a New Superpower? |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-03-239508-1 |editor-last=Kironska |editor-first=Kristina |chapter=Social Control and Propaganda |editor-last2=Turscanyi |editor-first2=Richard Q.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=109}} [[State-owned enterprises of China|State-owned enterprises]] or state institutions also use VPNs for official work.<ref name=":9222" />{{Rp|page=109}} The Chinese government has authorized several official licensed VPN providers who comply with Chinese censorship and backdoor access laws.<ref name=":9222" />{{Rp|page=109}}<ref name="forbes.com"/> Those who develop or sell their own VPNs potentially face years in prison.<ref name=":9222" />{{Rp|page=109}}

==Specific examples of Internet censorship==

===Tiananmen Square protests and massacre===
{{Main|1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre}}

The Chinese government censors Internet materials related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. According to the government's [[white paper]] in 2010 on the subject of Internet in China, the government protects "the safe flow of internet information and actively guides people to manage websites under the law and use the internet in a wholesome and correct way".<ref name="white paper">{{cite web|title=The Internet in China|url=http://english.gov.cn/2010-06/08/content_1622956_7.htm|publisher=Chinese Government's Official Web Portal|access-date=30 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408094606/http://english.gov.cn/2010-06/08/content_1622956_7.htm|archive-date=8 April 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The government, therefore, prevents people on the Internet from "divulging state secrets, subverting state power and jeopardizing national unification; damaging state honor" and "disrupting social order and stability."<ref name="white paper" /> Law-abiding Chinese websites such as Sina Weibo censors words related to the protests in its search engine.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Sina Weibo is one of the largest Chinese [[microblogging]] services.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} As of October 2012, Weibo's censored words include "[[Tank Man]]."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaiman |first=Jonathan |date=2013-06-04 |title=Tiananmen Square online searches censored by Chinese authorities |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/04/tiananmen-square-online-search-censored |access-date=2023-12-28 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The government also censors words that have similar pronunciation or meaning to "4 June", the date that the government's violent crackdown occurred. "陆肆", for example, is an alternative to "六四" (4 June).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-04 |title=There Are 64 Tiananman Terms Censored on China's Internet Today |url=http://news.yahoo.com/64-tiananman-terms-censored-chinas-153348768.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002028/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/64-tiananman-terms-censored-chinas-153348768.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The government forbids [[Memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|remembrances of the protests]]. Sina Weibo's search engine, for example, censors Hong Kong lyricist Thomas Chow's song called 自由花 or "The Flower of Freedom", since attendees of the [[Vindicate 4 June and Relay the Torch]] rally at Hong Kong's [[Victoria Park, Hong Kong|Victoria Park]] sing this song every year to commemorate the victims of the events.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

The government's Internet censorship of such topics was especially strict during the [[20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests]], which occurred in 2009. According to a Reporters Without Borders' article, searching photos related to the protest such as "4 June" on Baidu, the most popular Chinese search engine, would return blank results and a message stating that the "search does not comply with laws, regulations, and policies".<ref>{{cite news|title=All references to Tiananmen Square massacre closely censored for 20 years|url=http://en.rsf.org/china-all-references-to-tiananmen-square-02-06-2009,33198.html|newspaper=Reporters Without Borders|date=28 March 2014|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203070411/http://en.rsf.org/china-all-references-to-tiananmen-square-02-06-2009,33198.html|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Moreover, a large number of [[netizens]] from China claimed that they were unable to access numerous Western web services such as Twitter, Hotmail, and Flickr in the days leading up to and during the anniversary.<ref name="Websites maintenance">{{cite news|title=Closed for Business: More Chinese Web Sites|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites|access-date=28 March 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114055245/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites/|archive-date=14 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Netizens in China claimed that many Chinese web services were temporarily blocked days before and during the anniversary.<ref name="Websites maintenance"/> Netizens also reported that microblogging services including Fanfou and Xiaonei (now known as [[Renren]]) were down with similar messages that claim that their services were "under maintenance" for a few days around the anniversary date.<ref name="Websites maintenance"/>

In 2019, censors once again doubled down during the [[30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|30th anniversary of the protests]], and by this time had been "largely automated" with [[artificial intelligence|AI]] rejecting protest-related posts.<ref>{{cite news|title=China's robot censors crank up as Tiananmen anniversary nears|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tiananmen-censorship/chinas-robot-censors-crank-up-as-tiananmen-anniversary-nears-idUSKCN1SW03Y|access-date=26 May 2019|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526063221/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tiananmen-censorship/chinas-robot-censors-crank-up-as-tiananmen-anniversary-nears-idUSKCN1SW03Y|archive-date=26 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In May and June 2023, authorities censored Tiananmen protest-related posts and restricted communications of Tiananmen victims' families.<ref name="freedom house 2023" /> In March 2024, censors removed social media posts containing photos of medals awarded to PLA soldiers who [[People's Liberation Army at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|participated]] in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Chinese censors remove video showing off Tiananmen massacre medal |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-tiananmen-massacre-medal-03212024165241.html |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=[[Radio Free Asia]] |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324180804/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-tiananmen-massacre-medal-03212024165241.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Reactions of netizens in China====
In 2009, the Guardian wrote that Chinese netizens responded with subtle protests against the government's temporary blockages of large web services. For instance, Chinese websites made subtle grievances against the state's censorship by sarcastically calling the date 4 June as the "Chinese Internet Maintenance Day".<ref name="Veiled protest">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |title=Chinese websites mark Tiananmen Square anniversary with veiled protest |work=The Guardian |publication-date=4 June 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/04/chinese-websites-tiananmen-square-anniversary |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208073553/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/04/chinese-websites-tiananmen-square-anniversary |archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> Owner of the blog Wuqing.org stated, "I, too, am under maintenance".<ref name="Veiled protest" /> The dictionary website Wordku.com voluntarily took its site down with the claim that this was because of the "Chinese Internet Maintenance Day".<ref name="Veiled protest" /> In 2013, Chinese netizens used subtle and sarcastic Internet memes to criticize the government and to bypass censorship by creating and posting humorous pictures or drawings resembling the Tank Man photo on Weibo.<ref name="Big yellow duck">{{cite news|last=Chin|first=Josh|title=Tiananmen Effect: "Big Yellow Duck" a Banned Term|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/06/04/tiananmen-effect-big-yellow-duck-a-banned-term|access-date=28 March 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209145049/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/06/04/tiananmen-effect-big-yellow-duck-a-banned-term/|archive-date=9 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> One of these pictures, for example, showed Florentijin Hofman's [[Rubber Duck (sculpture)|rubber ducks sculptures]] replacing tanks in the Tank Man photo.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/> On Twitter, Hu Jia, a Beijing-based AIDS activist, asked netizens in mainland China to wear black T-shirts on 4 June to oppose censorship and to commemorate the date.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/> Chinese web services such as Weibo eventually censored searches of both "black shirt" and "Big Yellow Duck" in 2013.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/>

As a result, the government further promoted anti-western sentiment. In 2014, [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] general secretary Xi Jinping praised blogger [[Zhou Xiaoping]] for his "positive energy" after the latter argued in an essay titled "Nine Knockout Blows in America's Cold War Against China", that American culture was "eroding the moral foundation and self-confidence of the Chinese people."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/world/asia/china-turns-up-the-rhetoric-against-the-west.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032035/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/world/asia/china-turns-up-the-rhetoric-against-the-west.html |date=18 January 2017 }}  Edward Wong, The New York Times, 11 November 2014.</ref>

====Debates about the significance of Internet resistance to censorship====
According to Chinese studies expert Johan Lagerkvist, scholars [[Pierre Bourdieu]] and [[Michel de Certeau]] argue that this culture of satire is a weapon of resistance against authority.<ref name="After the Internet">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|pages=155–156}}</ref> This is because criticism against authority often results in satirical parodies that "presupposes and confirms emancipation" of the supposedly oppressed people.<ref name="After the Internet"/> Academic writer [[Linda Hutcheon]] argues that some people, however, may view satirical language that is used to criticise the government as "complicity", which can "reinforce rather than subvert conservative attitudes".<ref name="After the Internet page 156">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|page=156}}</ref> Chinese experts [[Perry Link]] and [[Xiao Qiang]], however, oppose this argument. They claim that when sarcastic terms develop into common vocabulary of netizens, these terms would lose their sarcastic characteristic. They then become normal terms that carry significant political meanings that oppose the government.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Link|first1=Perry|first2=Xiao |last2=Qiang|title=From "Fart People" to Citizens|journal=Journal of Democracy|year=2013|volume=24|issue=1|page=82|doi=10.1353/jod.2013.0014|s2cid=153466102}}</ref> Xiao believes that the netizens' freedom to spread information on the Internet has forced the government to listen to popular demands of netizens.<ref name=Battle>{{cite journal|last=Xiang|first=Xiao|title=The Battle for the Chinese Internet|journal=Journal of Democracy|year=2011|volume=22|issue=2|page=47|doi=10.1353/jod.2011.0020|s2cid=201796989}}</ref> For example, the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Information Technology]]'s plan to preinstall mandatory censoring software called [[Green Dam Youth Escort]] on computers failed after popular online opposition against it in 2009, the year of the 20th anniversary of the protest.<ref name="Battle"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Loretta|first1=Chao|title=Green Dam Troubles Mount|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/13/green-dam-troubles-mount.|access-date=8 April 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|first2=Sue |last2=Feng|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308071311/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/13/green-dam-troubles-mount./|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=胡|first=泳|title=困境与共谋：中国网民权利分析 (in Chinese)|url=http://xwjz.eastday.com/eastday/xwjz/node371540/node371541/u1a4763871.html|publisher=East Day|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409071557/http://xwjz.eastday.com/eastday/xwjz/node371540/node371541/u1a4763871.html|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
     
Lagerkvist states that the Chinese government, however, does not see subtle criticisms on the Internet as real threats that carry significant political meanings and topple the government.<ref name="After the Internet page 157">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|page=157}}</ref> He argues that real threats occur only when "laugh mobs" become "organised smart mobs" that directly challenge the government's power.<ref name="After the Internet"/> At a [[TED conference]], [[Michael Anti (journalist)|Michael Anti]] gives a similar reason for the government's lack of enforcement against these Internet memes.<ref name="Anti firewall">{{cite web|title=Michael Anti: Behind the Great Firewall of China|date=30 July 2012 |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_anti_behind_the_great_firewall_of_china/transcript|publisher=TED|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317044825/http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_anti_behind_the_great_firewall_of_china/transcript|archive-date=17 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Anti suggests that the government sometimes allows limited windows of freedom of speech such as Internet memes. Anti explains that this is to guide and generate public opinions that favor the government and to criticize enemies of the party officials.<ref name="Anti firewall"/>

====Internet censorship of the protest in 2013====
The Chinese government has become more efficient in its Internet regulations since the [[20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]]. On 3 June 2013, Sina Weibo quietly suspended usage of the candle icon from the comment input tool, which netizens used to mourn the dead on forums.<ref>{{cite web|title=Subtle censorship at its finest: Weibo took out candle icon ahead of Tiananmen anniversary|url=http://offbeatchina.com/subtle-censorship-at-its-finest-weibo-took-out-candle-icon-ahead-of-tiananmen-anniversary|publisher=Offbeat China|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409030900/http://offbeatchina.com/subtle-censorship-at-its-finest-weibo-took-out-candle-icon-ahead-of-tiananmen-anniversary|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Some searches related to the protest on Chinese website services no longer come up with blank results, but with results that the government had "carefully selected."<ref name="New censorship">{{cite web|title=China Is Experimenting with a New Form of Internet Censorship|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-new-form-of-internet-censorship-replaces-controversial-topics-with-fluff-2013-6|website=Business Insider|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409070805/http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-new-form-of-internet-censorship-replaces-controversial-topics-with-fluff-2013-6|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> These subtle methods of government censorship may cause netizens to believe that their searched materials were not censored.<ref name="New censorship"/>

===Usage of Internet kill switch===
China completely shut down Internet service in the autonomous region of [[Xinjiang]] from July 2009 to May 2010 for up to 312 days after the [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/28/did-egypt-really-shut-off-the-internet/ |title=Did Egypt Really 'Shut Off' the Internet? |magazine=[[TIME]] |date=28 January 2011 |access-date=17 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070757/http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/28/did-egypt-really-shut-off-the-internet/ |archive-date=17 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/02/africa/congo-internet-shutdown-china-intl/index.html|title= Democratic Republic of Congo internet shutdown shows how Chinese censorship tactics are spreading|date= 2 January 2019|publisher= CNN|access-date= 17 December 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191222233517/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/02/africa/congo-internet-shutdown-china-intl/index.html|archive-date= 22 December 2019|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/22/china-xinjiang-surveillance-tech-spread/ |title=China's Xinjiang surveillance is the dystopian future nobody wants |publisher=[[engadget]] |date=22 February 2018 |access-date=17 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217102714/https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/22/china-xinjiang-surveillance-tech-spread/ |archive-date=17 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===COVID-19 pandemic===
{{Main|COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China#Censorship and police responses}}
[[Reporters without Borders]] has accused that China's policies prevented an earlier warning about the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. At least one doctor suspected as early as 25 December 2019 that an outbreak was occurring, but arguably may have been deterred from informing the media due to harsh punishment for whistleblowers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=David |title=China's media censorship could have cost thousands of lives by preventing early coronavirus warning, journalism watchdog argues |url=https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-media-censorship-could-have-cost-thousands-lives-preventing-early-coronavirus-warning-1494218 |access-date=12 April 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=25 March 2020 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412014034/https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-media-censorship-could-have-cost-thousands-lives-preventing-early-coronavirus-warning-1494218 |archive-date=12 April 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the pandemic, academic research concerning the origins of the virus was censored.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Kirchgaessner|first1=Stephanie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/china-clamping-down-on-coronavirus-research-deleted-pages-suggest|title=China clamping down on coronavirus research, deleted pages suggest|date=2020-04-11|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2020-04-11|url-status=live|last2=Graham-Harrison|first2=Emma|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|last3=Kuo|first3=Lily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411175908/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/china-clamping-down-on-coronavirus-research-deleted-pages-suggest|archive-date=11 April 2020}}</ref> An investigation by [[ProPublica]] and ''[[The New York Times]]'' found that the Cyberspace Administration of China placed censorship restrictions on Chinese media outlets and social media to avoid mentions of the COVID-19 outbreak, mentions of [[Li Wenliang]], and "activated legions of fake online commenters to flood social sites with distracting chatter".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Zhong|first1=Raymond|last2=Mozur|first2=Paul|last3=Krolik|first3=Aaron|last4=Kao|first4=Jeff|date=19 December 2020|title=Leaked Documents Show How China's Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus|work=[[ProPublica]]|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=19 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219101738/https://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late 2022, demonstrations erupted across China against the [[Zero-COVID]] measures and various other issues. The catalyst for these protests was a fire in an Ürümqi apartment, which claimed 10 lives in November, during a persistent COVID-19 lockdown. In response, authorities acted to eliminate digital discussions regarding the protests. This included deleting posts, imposing limits on search capabilities, and erasing calls for the freeing of detained demonstrators. The [[Cyberspace Administration of China]] mandated that digital platforms increase their content moderation teams to erase any mentions of tools that might allow users to bypass censorship, aiming to cut off any pathways to openly discussing the protests through unfiltered internet channels. Following these events, the government lifted restrictions associated with COVID-19, leading to a surge in infection rates and fatalities. Sina Weibo, a major social media platform, blocked search results related to the “pandemic in Beijing” and prevented live conversations about the consequences of lifting lockdown measures. In January 2023, the authorities initiated a digital clampdown to eliminate "gloomy sentiments" fueled by what they termed as false information concerning the pandemic, and any digital content mentioning infection rates or fatalities was promptly deleted.<ref name="freedom house 2023"/>

===Winnie the Pooh===
{{further|Censorship of Winnie-the-Pooh in China}}
[[File:XJP inspection parade.jpeg|alt=President Xi in his limousine to inspect the troops juxtaposed against a toy Winnie the Pooh in his own little car|thumb|A meme comparing President Xi and Winnie the Pooh became the most censored image of 2015.]]
Since 2013, the [[Disney]] character [[Winnie the Pooh (Disney character)|Winnie the Pooh]] is systematically removed on the Chinese Internet following the spread of an Internet meme in which photographs of Xi and other individuals were compared to the bear and other characters from the works of [[A. A. Milne]] as re-imagined by Disney.<ref name="cbs winnie2">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/winnie-the-pooh-censored-china-president-xi-jinping-comparisons/|title=Winnie the Pooh censored in China after President Xi Jinping comparisons|last=Martinez|first=Peter|date=17 July 2017|work=[[CBS News]]|access-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224214026/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/winnie-the-pooh-censored-china-president-xi-jinping-comparisons/|archive-date=24 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The first heavily censored viral meme can be traced back to the official visit to the United States in 2013 during which Xi was photographed by a [[Reuters]] photographer walking with then-U.S. president [[Barack Obama]] in [[Sunnylands|Sunnylands, California]]. A blog post where the photograph was juxtaposed with the cartoon depiction went viral,<ref name="businesstoday_407308" /><ref name="scmp_3043614" /> but Chinese censors rapidly deleted it.<ref name="scmp_1258981">{{Cite web |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1258981/could-xi-pooh-have-saved-chinas-declining-world-image |title=Could Xi-the-Pooh have saved China's declining world image? |date=12 June 2013 |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709144808/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1258981/could-xi-pooh-have-saved-chinas-declining-world-image |url-status=live }}</ref> A year later came a [[meme]] featuring Xi and [[Shinzo Abe]].<ref name="businesstoday_407308">{{Cite web |url=https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/india-china-border-dispute-twitterati-twitter-xi-jinping-winnie-the-pooh-ladakh-galwan-valley/story/407308.html |title=Why Xi Jinping is called Winnie the Pooh on Twitter? It's a long story |date=18 June 2020 |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709075407/https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/india-china-border-dispute-twitterati-twitter-xi-jinping-winnie-the-pooh-ladakh-galwan-valley/story/407308.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="scmp_3043614">{{Cite web |url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3043614/xi-jinping-winnie-pooh-and-canadian-origins-bear |title=Xi Jinping, Winnie the Pooh and the origins of the bear China banned |date=30 December 2019 |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709195536/https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3043614/xi-jinping-winnie-pooh-and-canadian-origins-bear |url-status=live }}</ref> When Xi Jinping inspected troops through his [[Hongqi L5|limousine's]] sunroof, a popular meme was created with Winnie the Pooh in a toy car. The widely circulated image became the most censored picture of the year in 2015.<ref name="businesstoday_407308" /> In addition to not wanting any kind of online euphemism for the [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP's general secretary]],<ref name="bbc_40627855">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855 |title=Why China censors banned Winnie the Pooh |work=BBC News |date=17 July 2017 |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=8 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108010317/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-40627855 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Chinese government considers that the caricature undermines the authority of the party general secretarial office as well as the [[paramount leader]] himself, and all works comparing Xi with Winnie the Pooh are purportedly banned in China.<ref name="businesstoday_407308" /><ref name="scmp_3043614" />

===Other examples===
In 2006, the government censored what it viewed as excessive anti-Japanese sentiment online related to the [[Senkaku Islands dispute|Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute]].<ref name=":Mao">{{Cite book |last=Mao |first=Lin |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |chapter=From Trade War to New Cold War: Popular Nationalism and the Global Times on Weibo under Xi Jinping |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=306}} Following the [[2010 Senkaku boat collision incident|2010 boat collision in the disputed islands]], the Chinese government censored related keywords online and shut down internet chatrooms addressing the issues in an effort to decrease bilateral tension between the [[China–Japan relations|two countries]].<ref name=":Wang">{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Frances Yaping |title=The Art of State Persuasion: China's Strategic Use of Media in Interstate Disputes |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9780197757512}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=264–265}}

In February 2018, Xi Jinping appeared to set in motion a process to scrap [[term limits]], allowing himself to become [[President for life|ruler for life]]. To suppress criticism, censors banned phrases such as ''Disagree'' (不同意), ''Shameless'' (不要脸), ''Lifelong'' (终身), ''[[Animal Farm]]'', and at one point briefly censored the letter 'N'.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Phillips|first1=Tom|title=Cesored! China bans letter N (briefly) from internet as Xi Jinping extends grip on power|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/28/china-bans-the-letter-n-internet-xi-jinping-extends-power|access-date=28 February 2018|work=The Guardian|date=28 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413131353/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/28/china-bans-the-letter-n-internet-xi-jinping-extends-power|archive-date=13 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Li Datong]], a former state newspaper editor, wrote a critical letter that was censored; some social media users evaded the censorship by posting an upside-down screenshot of the letter.<ref>{{cite news|title=Extending Xi rule 'would be a farce'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43212839|access-date=28 February 2018|work=BBC News|date=27 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227222108/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43212839|archive-date=27 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Liang Xiangyi.webm|thumb|left|Searches for "journalist in blue" were blocked after a reporter's eye-roll went viral in 2018.]]
On 13 March 2018, China's [[China Central Television|CCTV]] incidentally showed Yicai's Liang Xiangyi apparently rolling her eyes in disgust at a long-winded and canned media question during the widely watched [[National People's Congress]]. In the aftermath, Liang's name became the most-censored search term on [[Microblogging in China|Weibo]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Denyer|first1=Simon|title=In China, a reporter's dramatic eye-roll went viral. Then searches of it were censored.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/13/watch-a-reporters-eye-roll-goes-viral-during-chinas-parliament-until-the-censors-moved-in/|access-date=21 March 2018|newspaper=Washington Post|date=13 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320132347/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/13/watch-a-reporters-eye-roll-goes-viral-during-chinas-parliament-until-the-censors-moved-in/|archive-date=20 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mozur|first1=Paul|title=A Reporter Rolled Her Eyes, and China's Internet Broke|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/world/asia/china-eye-roll-liang-xiangyi.html|access-date=21 March 2018|work=The New York Times|date=13 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321153334/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/world/asia/china-eye-roll-liang-xiangyi.html|archive-date=21 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The government also blocked the search query "journalist in blue" and attempted to censor popular memes inspired by the eye-roll.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Beijing|first1=Didi Tang|title=Chinese reporter's dramatic eye-roll goes viral before she disappears from view|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chinese-reporter-liang-xiangyi-s-dramatic-eye-roll-goes-viral-before-she-disappears-from-view-vlpgsglrt|access-date=21 March 2018|work=The Times|date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321192522/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chinese-reporter-liang-xiangyi-s-dramatic-eye-roll-goes-viral-before-she-disappears-from-view-vlpgsglrt|archive-date=21 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Connor|first1=Neil|title=China reporter's devastating eye-roll wiped from internet by censors after it spawns viral memes|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/14/china-reporters-devastating-eye-roll-wiped-internet-censors/|access-date=21 March 2018|work=The Telegraph|date=14 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321143723/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/14/china-reporters-devastating-eye-roll-wiped-internet-censors/|archive-date=21 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 21 June 2018, British-born comedian [[John Oliver]] criticized China's [[paramount leader]] Xi Jinping on his U.S. show ''[[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver|Last Week Tonight]]'' over Xi Jinping's apparent descent into [[authoritarianism]] (including his sidelining of dissent, [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|human rights abuses against Uyghur peoples]], and clampdowns on Chinese Internet censorship), as well as the [[Belt and Road Initiative]]. As a result, the English language name of John Oliver (although not the Chinese version) was censored on Sina Weibo and other sites on the Chinese Internet.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stanway |first1=David |last2=Qiu |first2=Stella |title=China's Weibo blocks comedian John Oliver after Xi Jinping roasting |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-censorship/chinas-weibo-blocks-comedian-john-oliver-after-xi-jinping-roasting-idUSKBN1JH14P |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=Reuters |date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621112258/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-censorship/chinas-weibo-blocks-comedian-john-oliver-after-xi-jinping-roasting-idUSKBN1JH14P |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chinese social media censors John Oliver |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-44557528 |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=BBC News |date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621105615/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-44557528 |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yeung |first1=Jessie |title=China censors John Oliver after scathing 20-minute video |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/21/china/john-oliver-weibo-intl/index.html |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=CNN |date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621180040/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/21/china/john-oliver-weibo-intl/index.html |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=May |first1=Tiffany |title=John Oliver, Having Mocked Chinese Censorship, Is Censored in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/world/asia/john-oliver-china-ban.html |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621160839/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/world/asia/john-oliver-china-ban.html |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kuo |first1=Lily |title=China's Twitter erases John Oliver after scathing Xi Jinping skit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/21/chinas-twitter-erases-john-oliver-after-scathing-xi-jinping-skit |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621064245/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jun/21/chinas-twitter-erases-john-oliver-after-scathing-xi-jinping-skit |archive-date=21 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The American television show [[South Park]] was banned from China in 2019 and any mention of it was removed from almost all sites on the Chinese Internet, after criticizing China's government and censorship in season 23 episode, ''[[Band in China]]''. Series creators [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]] later issued a mock apology.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sharf |first=Zack|title='South Park' Removed From Chinese Internet After Critical 'Band in China' Episode|date=7 October 2019|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/south-park-banned-chinese-internet-band-in-china-1202179241/|work=[[IndieWire]]|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010160553/https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/south-park-banned-chinese-internet-band-in-china-1202179241/|archive-date=10 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Otterson |first1=Joe |title='South Park' Creators Respond to China Censorship: 'Xi Doesn't Look Just Like Winnie the Pooh at All' |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/south-park-china-censorship-1203361720/ |access-date=7 October 2019 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=7 October 2019 |language=en |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010203925/https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/south-park-china-censorship-1203361720/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, large numbers of young online activists nicknamed the "fan girls" used VPNs to access Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to propagate nationalist sentiment in opposition to the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|2019-2020 Hong Kong protests]] and China's foreign critics.<ref name=":05">{{Cite book |last1=He |first1=Lingnan |url=https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/vx021h696 |title=China as Number One? The Emerging Values of a Rising Power |last2=Yang |first2=Dali L. |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-07635-2 |editor-last=Zhong |editor-first=Yang |series=China Understandings Today series |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |chapter=Political Participation in China: Social Surveys as Windows to Chinese Political Attitude and Behavior |format=EPUB |editor-last2=Inglehart |editor-first2=Ronald }}</ref>{{Rp|page=138}} Authorities ultimately sought to restrict their online presence.<ref name=":05" />{{Rp|page=138}}

On 20 April 2020, [[Scratch (programming language)|Scratch]] was completely banned in China because of recognition of [[Macau]], [[Hong Kong]] and [[Taiwan]] as countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=China bans Scratch, MIT's programming language for kids |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/07/scratch-ban-in-china/ |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=TechCrunch |date=7 September 2020 |language=en-US |archive-date=24 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524194237/https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/07/scratch-ban-in-china/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, the India-based news website [[WION]] was blocked.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Outlook |first=Team Tech |date=2020-07-02 |title=Now China blocks Indian News Channel WION |url=https://www.thetechoutlook.com/news/web-social-media/now-china-blocks-indian-news-channel-wion/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=The Tech Outlook |language=en-US}}</ref>

In October 2022, in the run-up to the [[20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party]], photographs and videos of the [[Beijing Sitong Bridge protest]] were censored.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kang |first=Dake |date=2022-10-13 |title=China quashes social media about protest banners in Beijing |url=https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-fires-social-media-9a4ce56ca52f4a6fcabe7539706a3469 |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=[[Associated Press]] |language=en |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014065150/https://apnews.com/article/technology-china-fires-social-media-9a4ce56ca52f4a6fcabe7539706a3469 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2024, past articles concerning China's economic development from the ''[[People's Daily]]'' were censored.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Cindy |date=2024-02-10 |title=1960 People's Daily "Air of Rapid Development" Lunar New Year's Message Deleted |url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2024/02/1960-peoples-daily-air-of-rapid-development-lunar-new-years-message-deleted/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=[[China Digital Times]] |language=en-US |archive-date=12 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212194238/https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2024/02/1960-peoples-daily-air-of-rapid-development-lunar-new-years-message-deleted/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Cindy |date=2024-02-02 |title=2016 Article Predicting That China Will Be "High-Income" by 2024 Deleted from People's Daily Online |url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2024/02/2016-article-predicting-that-china-will-be-high-income-by-2024-deleted-from-peoples-daily-online/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=[[China Digital Times]] |language=en-US |archive-date=12 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212194238/https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2024/02/2016-article-predicting-that-china-will-be-high-income-by-2024-deleted-from-peoples-daily-online/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Discussion of [[Doping in China|doping]] cases involving Chinese athletes in international sports is widely censored.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Pierson |first=David |date=2024-07-03 |title=An Uproar Over a Chinese Doping Case, Except in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/world/asia/china-doping-censorship.html |access-date=2024-07-10 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710060105/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/world/asia/china-doping-censorship.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Online discussion of the [[2025 Bangkok skyscraper collapse]] was censored.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lu |first=Alan |date=April 1, 2025 |title=China muzzles online debate on construction standards after Bangkok building collapse |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2025/04/01/china-censors-online-debate-bangkok-collapse/ |access-date=April 3, 2025 |work=[[Radio Free Asia]]}}</ref>

==International influence==
{{Main|Chinese censorship abroad}}
Foreign content providers such as [[Yahoo!]], [[AOL]], and [[Skype]] must abide by Chinese government wishes, including having internal content monitors, to be able to operate within mainland China. Also, per mainland Chinese laws, [[Microsoft]] began to censor the content of its blog service [[Windows Live Spaces]], arguing that continuing to provide Internet services is more beneficial to the Chinese.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/krumholtz/02-15WrittenTestimony.mspx|title= Congressional Testimony: "The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?"|access-date= 30 August 2006|publisher= Microsoft.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061128145545/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/krumholtz/02-15WrittenTestimony.mspx|archive-date= 28 November 2006|url-status= dead|df= dmy-all}}</ref> Chinese journalist [[Michael Anti (journalist)|Michael Anti]]'s blog on [[Windows Live Spaces]] was censored by Microsoft. In an April 2006 e-mail panel discussion [[Rebecca MacKinnon]], who reported from China for nine years as a Beijing bureau chief for CNN, said: "... many bloggers said [Anti] was a necessary sacrifice so that the majority of Chinese can continue to have an online space to express themselves as they choose. So the point is, compromises are being made at every level of society because nobody expects political freedom anyway."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/internet/|title= Roundtable: The Struggle to Control Information|date= 11 April 2005|publisher= Frontline (PBS.org)|access-date= 1 September 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110603072459/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/internet/|archive-date= 3 June 2011|url-status= live}}</ref>

The Chinese version of [[Myspace]], launched in April 2007, has many censorship-related differences from other international versions of the service. Discussion forums on topics such as religion and politics are absent and a filtering system that prevents the posting of content about politically sensitive topics has been added.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://texyt.com/MySpace+China+censors+politics+religion+064|title= MySpace now available in China – minus politics and religion|first= Lu |last=Enjie|date= 26 April 2007|publisher= Texyt.com|access-date= 28 April 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110501202556/http://texyt.com/MySpace+China+censors+politics+religion+064|archive-date= 1 May 2011|url-status= live}}</ref> Users are also given the ability to report the "misconduct" of other users for offenses including "endangering national security, leaking state secrets, subverting the government, undermining national unity, spreading rumors or disturbing the social order."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwwcn.myspace.cn/Modules/Common/Pages/TermsConditions.aspx |title=MySpace.cn使用协议条款 |access-date=28 April 2007 |publisher=MySpace.cn |language=zh |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429021821/http://wwwcn.myspace.cn/Modules/Common/Pages/TermsConditions.aspx |archive-date=29 April 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Some media have suggested that China's Internet censorship of foreign websites may also be a means of forcing mainland Chinese users to rely on China's e-commerce industry, thus self-insulating their economy from the dominance of international corporations.<ref name="Newsvine">{{cite web|url=http://tomcarter.newsvine.com/_news/2007/02/15/569719-the-chinese-internet-crash-of-2007-calamity-or-capitalism |title=The Chinese Internet Crash of 2007 – Calamity or Capitalism? |access-date=5 September 2008 |last=Carter |first=Tom |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206045734/http://tomcarter.newsvine.com/_news/2007/02/15/569719-the-chinese-internet-crash-of-2007-calamity-or-capitalism |archive-date=6 December 2007 }}</ref> On 7 November 2005 an alliance of investors and researchers representing 26 companies in the U.S., Europe and Australia with over US$21 billion in joint assets announced<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69508,00.html |title=Money's Nice, but Freedom's Nicer |magazine=WIRED |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208104410/http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69508,00.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> that they were urging businesses to protect freedom of expression and pledged to monitor technology companies that do business in countries violating human rights, such as China. On 21 December 2005 the UN, [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] and [[Organization of American States|OAS]] special mandates on freedom of expression called on Internet corporations to "work together ... to resist official attempts to control or restrict the use of the Internet."<ref>UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression (21 December 2005). [http://www.article19.org/pdfs/standards/three-mandates-dec-2005.pdf International Mechanisms for Promoting Freedom of Expression.]  [https://web.archive.org/web/20060103114713/http://www.article19.org/pdfs/standards/three-mandates-dec-2005.pdf Archived.] from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2021.</ref> Google finally responded when attacked by hackers rumored to be hired by the Chinese government by threatening to pull out of China.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-03-23 |title=China slams Google censoring move |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8582233.stm |access-date=2023-12-28 |archive-date=25 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625141215/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8582233.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, [[Reporters Without Borders]] wrote that it suspects that regimes such as [[Censorship in Cuba|Cuba]], [[Censorship in Zimbabwe|Zimbabwe]], and [[Censorship in Belarus|Belarus]] have obtained surveillance technology from China.<ref name="cubaonline">{{cite web|url=http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_gb_md_1.pdf |title=Going online in Cuba: Internet under surveillance |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |year=2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303221407/http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_gb_md_1.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

=== Chinese social media platforms ===
With the proliferation of Chinese social media platforms such as [[TikTok]], [[WeChat]], [[Tencent QQ|QQ]], [[Sina Weibo|Weibo]] and [[Xiaohongshu]] (RED) abroad, concerns have been raised about data harvesting by Chinese technology firms since such companies are registered in China and therefore fall under the jurisdiction of [[Chinese law]], requiring access to data without warrant when requested by Chinese intelligence and public security authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leaked Audio From 80 Internal TikTok Meetings Shows That US User Data Has Been Repeatedly Accessed From China |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=BuzzFeed News |date=17 June 2022 |language=en |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624025154/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access |url-status=live }}</ref> Concern has also grown about the spread of Chinese language disinformation and propaganda on platforms targeted at overseas [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese diaspora]] communities and the potential to sow discord and unrest towards host nation states and societies in addition to the exporting of Chinese censorship practices abroad, preventing the exercise of free speech by Chinese communities even when physically outside China.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-19 |title=Concerns over China's access to WeChat user data: report |url=https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/concerns-over-china-s-access-to-wechat-user-data-report-20220615-p5au04 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Australian Financial Review |language=en |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913121301/https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/concerns-over-china-s-access-to-wechat-user-data-report-20220615-p5au04 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=China Intercepts WeChat Texts From U.S. And Abroad, Researchers Say |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/751116338/china-intercepts-wechat-texts-from-u-s-and-abroad-researcher-says |access-date=2022-09-13 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913121320/https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/751116338/china-intercepts-wechat-texts-from-u-s-and-abroad-researcher-says |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Evasion==
{{Main |Internet censorship circumvention}}

===Using a VPN service===
Internet censorship in China is circumvented by determined parties by using [[proxy servers]] outside the firewall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm|title="Race to the Bottom": Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship: II. How Censorship Works in China: A Brief Overview|website=www.hrw.org|access-date=4 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422063645/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/3.htm|archive-date=22 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Users may circumvent all of the censorship and monitoring of the Great Firewall if they have a working [[VPN]] or [[Secure Shell|SSH]] connection method to a computer outside mainland China. However, disruptions of VPN services have been reported and the free or popular services especially are increasingly being blocked.<ref name="guardvpn">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/may/13/china-cracks-down-on-vpn-use|title=China Cracks Down on VPN Use, Guardian News|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Charles|last=Arthur|date=13 May 2011|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202085302/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/may/13/china-cracks-down-on-vpn-use|archive-date=2 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=guardvpn2>{{cite news|last=Arthur|first=Charles|title=China tightens 'Great Firewall' internet control with new technology|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/14/china-tightens-great-firewall-internet-control|work=The Guardian|access-date=8 March 2013|location=London|date=14 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910001533/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/14/china-tightens-great-firewall-internet-control|archive-date=10 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[2022 COVID-19 protests in China]], the Chinese government intensified crackdowns on VPNs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-02 |title=China brings in 'emergency' level censorship over zero-Covid protests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/02/china-brings-in-emergency-level-censorship-over-zero-covid-protests |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=7 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207033817/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/02/china-brings-in-emergency-level-censorship-over-zero-covid-protests |url-status=live }}</ref> To avoid [[deep packet inspection]] and continue providing services in China some VPN providers implemented server obfuscation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-24|title=The rise of obfuscated VPN servers and their use cases: A guide|url=https://cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2019/oct/24/rise-obfuscated-vpn-servers-and-their-use-cases-guide/|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Cloud Computing News|language=en-GB|archive-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020202142/https://cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2019/oct/24/rise-obfuscated-vpn-servers-and-their-use-cases-guide/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China proposed new rules that would punish individuals and institutions for helping internet users bypass the 'Great Firewall', further attempting to restrict VPN usage.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Feng |first1=Coco |title=China's VPN providers face harsher punishment for scaling the Great Firewall under new data regulation |url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3156095/chinas-vpn-providers-face-harsher-punishment-scaling-great-firewall |website=South China Morning Post |date=15 November 2021 |access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref> However, such article did not appear on the final version of the law published in September 2024.<ref name = "GFWdeleted1">{{cite news |title=日报｜以陆军进入黎巴嫩；美国大选副总统辩论将举行；上海现随机杀人事件 {{!}} 端传媒 Initium Media |url=https://theinitium.com/zh-hans/article/20241001-daily-brief |access-date=9 January 2025 |work=theinitium.com |publisher=The Initium |date=1 October 2024 |language=zh-hans}}</ref><ref name = "GFWdeleted2">{{cite web |title=网络数据安全管理条例 |url=https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/202409/content_6977766.htm |website=Government of the People's Republic of China |access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref>

===Changing IP addresses===
Blogs hosted on services such as [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]] and [[Wordpress.com]] are frequently blocked.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greatfire.org/blog/2011/oct/all-wordpress-blogs-blocked-in-china|title=All WordPress blogs blocked in China, greatfire.org}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/04/wordpress/|title=Wordpress.com DDoS Attacks Primarily From China|access-date=27 December 2019|archive-date=24 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824001629/https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/04/wordpress/|url-status=live}}</ref> In response, some China-focused services explicitly offer to change a blog's IP address within 30 minutes if it is blocked by the authorities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thomascrampton.com/media/best-blog-hosting-service-to-sidestep-chinas-great-firewall/ |title=The Best Hosting Services to Sidestep China's Great Firewall |publisher=Thomascrampton.com |date=26 March 2008 |access-date=1 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507133913/http://www.thomascrampton.com/media/best-blog-hosting-service-to-sidestep-chinas-great-firewall/ |archive-date=7 May 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===Using a mirror website===
In 2002, Chinese citizens used the Google mirror [[elgooG]] after China blocked Google. This has since been blocked.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2768|title=Google mirror beats Great Firewall of China – 06&nbsp;September 2002|magazine=New Scientist|access-date=27 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109190024/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2768|archive-date=9 January 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Modifying the network stack===
In July 2006, researchers at Cambridge University claimed to have defeated the firewall by ignoring the [[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]] reset packets.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.zdnet.com/article/academics-break-the-great-firewall-of-china-5000159521/|title= Academics break the Great Firewall of China|last= Espiner|first= Tom|date= 3 July 2006|work= ZDNet|access-date= 25 October 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190223022118/https://www.zdnet.com/article/academics-break-the-great-firewall-of-china-5000159521/|archive-date= 23 February 2019|url-status= live}}</ref>

===Using Tor and DPI-resistant tools===
Although many users use VPNs to circumvent the Great Firewall of China, many Internet connections are now subject to [[deep packet inspection]], in which data packets are looked at in detail. Many VPNs have been blocked using this method. Blogger Grey One suggests users trying to disguise VPN usage forward their VPN traffic through port 443 because this port is also heavily used by web browsers for HTTPS connections. However, Grey points out this method is futile against advanced inspection.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greycoder.com/how-hide-vpn-connections/|title=How To Hide Your VPN Connections in China, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Pakistan – GreyCoder|website=greycoder.com|access-date=2018-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501095349/https://greycoder.com/how-hide-vpn-connections/|archive-date=1 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Obfsproxy<ref name=obsf/> and other pluggable transports do allow users to evade deep-packet inspection.<ref>{{cite web|title=What Is Deep Packet Inspection?|work=pcworld.com|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/249137/what_is_deep_packet_inspection_.html|date=1 February 2012|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103091555/http://www.pcworld.com/article/249137/what_is_deep_packet_inspection_.html|archive-date=3 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Tor (network)|Tor]] anonymity network was and is subject to partial blocking by China's Great Firewall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Torproject.org Blocked by GFW in China: Sooner or Later?|url=https://blog.torproject.org/blog/torprojectorg-blocked-gfw-china-sooner-or-later|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130131234/https://blog.torproject.org/blog/torprojectorg-blocked-gfw-china-sooner-or-later|archive-date=30 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Tor partially blocked in China|url=https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-partially-blocked-china|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512023622/https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-partially-blocked-china|archive-date=12 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=China blocking Tor: Round Two|url=https://blog.torproject.org/blog/china-blocking-tor-round-two|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128025922/https://blog.torproject.org/blog/china-blocking-tor-round-two|archive-date=28 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Picturing Tor censorship in China|url=https://blog.torproject.org/blog/picturing-tor-censorship-china|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130024220/https://blog.torproject.org/blog/picturing-tor-censorship-china|archive-date=30 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The Tor website is blocked when accessed over [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP]] but it is reachable over [[HTTP Secure|HTTPS]] so it is possible for users to download the Tor Browser Bundle.<ref name=HowTorIsBlockingChina>{{cite web|last=Winter|first=Philipp|title=How China Is Blocking Tor|url=http://www.cs.kau.se/philwint/static/gfc/|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606065132/http://www.cs.kau.se/philwint/static/gfc/|archive-date=6 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The Tor project also maintains a list of website mirrors in case the main Tor website is blocked.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/mirrors.html.en|title=Tor Project: Mirrors|website=torproject.org|access-date=2018-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220172642/https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/mirrors.html.en|archive-date=20 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Tor network maintains a public list of approximately 3000 entry relays; almost all of them are blocked.<ref name="HowTorIsBlockingChina" /> In addition to the public relays, Tor maintains bridges which are non-public relays.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tor: Bridges|url=https://www.torproject.org/docs/bridges|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512012603/https://www.torproject.org/docs/bridges|archive-date=12 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Their purpose is to help censored users reach the Tor network. The Great Firewall scrapes nearly all the bridge IPs distributed through bridges.torproject.org and email. According to Winter's research paper published in April 2012, this blocking technique can be circumvented by using packet fragmentation or the Tor obfsproxy bundle in combination with private obfsproxy bridges.<ref name="obsf">{{cite web|title=obfsproxy|url=https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en|access-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509232621/https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en|archive-date=9 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="HowTorIsBlockingChina" /> Tor Obfs4 bridges still work in China as long as the IPs are discovered through social networks or self-published bridges.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=29 December 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX46Qv_b7F4 |title=28c3: How governments have tried to block Tor |publisher=28c3 |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715011739/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX46Qv_b7F4 |archive-date=15 July 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Tor now primarily functions in China using Snowflake and meeks which works via front-end proxies hosted on [[Content delivery network|Content Delivery Networks]] (CDNs) to obfuscate the information coming to and from the source and destination, it is a type of pluggable transport. Examples are Microsoft's [[Microsoft Azure|Azure]] and [[Cloudflare]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/meek|title=doc/meek – Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki|website=trac.torproject.org|access-date=2019-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213082349/https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/meek|archive-date=13 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Unintended methods===
It was common in the past to use [[Google cache|Google's cache feature]] to view blocked websites. However, this feature of Google seems to be under some level of blocking, as access is now erratic and does not work for blocked websites. Currently, the block is mostly circumvented by using proxy servers outside the firewall and is not difficult to carry out for those determined to do so.

The mobile [[Opera Mini]] browser uses a proxy-based approach employing encryption and compression to speed up downloads. This has the side effect of allowing it to circumvent several approaches to Internet censorship. In 2009 this led the government of China to ban all but a special Chinese version of the browser.<ref>{{cite web|title=Opera accused of censorship, betrayal by Chinese users|work=CNet Asia|first=Steven |last=Millward|date=22 November 2009|url=http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/opera-accused-of-censorship-betrayal-by-chinese-users-62115913.htm|access-date=1 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103151615/http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/opera-accused-of-censorship-betrayal-by-chinese-users-62115913.htm|archive-date=3 November 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Using an analogy to bypass keyword filters===
As the Great Firewall of China gets more sophisticated, users are getting increasingly creative in the ways they elude the censorship, such as by using analogies to discuss topics. Furthermore, users are becoming increasingly open in their mockery of them by actively using [[homophone]]s to avoid censorship. Deleted sites have "been harmonized", indicating CCP general secretary [[Hu Jintao]]'s Internet censorship lies under the larger idea of creating a "[[Socialist Harmonious Society]]". For example, censors are referred to as "[[River crab (Internet slang)|river crabs]]" (河蟹), because in Chinese that phrase forms a [[homophone]] for "harmony" (和谐).<ref>Branigan, Tania. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/24/china-internet-generation-censorship "How China's Internet generation broke the silence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202141617/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/24/china-internet-generation-censorship |date=2 February 2017 }} , ''The Guardian'', 24 March 2010</ref>

===Using steganography===
According to ''[[The Guardian]]'' editor Charles Arthur, Internet users in China have found more technical ways to get around the Great Firewall of China, including using [[steganography]], a practice of "embedding useful data in what looks like something irrelevant. The text of a document can be broken into its constituent [[byte]]s, which are added to the pixels of an innocent picture. The effect is barely visible on the picture, but the recipient can extract it with the right software".<ref>Arthur, Charles, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/25/china-internet-how-to-beat-censorship?intcmp=239, "China and the internet: Tricks to beat the online censor"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313144809/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/25/china-internet-how-to-beat-censorship?intcmp=239, |date=13 March 2016 }} , ''The Guardian'', 25 March 2010</ref>

===Voices===
[[Rupert Murdoch]] famously proclaimed that advances in communications technology posed an "unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere"<ref>Yeo, G., & Li, E, X., [http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Global-Viewpoint/2012/0123/Rise-of-the-dragon-China-isn-t-censoring-the-Internet.-It-s-making-it-work "Rise of the dragon: China isn't censoring the Internet. It's making it work"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528022031/http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Global-Viewpoint/2012/0123/Rise-of-the-dragon-China-isn-t-censoring-the-Internet.-It-s-making-it-work |date=28 May 2012 }} , "The Christian Science Monitor", 23 January 2012</ref> and [[Ai Weiwei]] argued that the Chinese "leaders must understand it's not possible for them to control the Internet unless they shut it off".<ref>Weiwei, Ai, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2012/apr/16/china-censorship-internet-freedom "China's censorship can never defeat the internet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228083951/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2012/apr/16/china-censorship-internet-freedom |date=28 February 2017 }} , "Journal of Social History",16 April 2012</ref>

However, Nathan Freitas, a fellow at the [[Berkman Center for Internet and Society]] at [[Harvard]] and technical adviser to the [[Tibet Action Institute]], says "There's a growing sense within China that widely used VPN services that were once considered untouchable are now being touched." In June 2015 Jaime Blasco, a security researcher at [[AlienVault]] in [[Silicon Valley]], reported that hackers, possibly with the assistance of the Chinese government, had found ways to circumvent the most popular privacy tools on the Internet: virtual private networks, or VPNs, and Tor. This is done with the aid of a particularly serious vulnerability, known as [[JSONP]], that 15 web services in China never patched. As long as the users are logged into one of China's top web services such as Baidu, [[QQ]], [[Taobao]], [[Sina Corp|Sina]], [[Sohu]], and [[Ctrip]] the hackers can identify them and access their personal information, even if they are using Tor or a VPN. The vulnerability is not new; it was published in a Chinese security and web forum around 2013.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/technology/chinese-hackers-circumvent-popular-web-privacy-tools.html "Chinese Hackers Circumvent Popular Web Privacy Tools"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722012734/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/technology/chinese-hackers-circumvent-popular-web-privacy-tools.html |date=22 July 2017 }} , Nicole Perlroth, ''New York Times'', 12 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.</ref>

=== Specific examples of evasion as Internet activism ===
The rapid increase of access to Internet in China has also created new opportunities for Internet activism. For example, in terms of journalism, Marina Svensson's article on "Media and Civil Society in China: Community building and networking among investigative journalists and beyond" illustrates that although Chinese journalists are not able to create their own private companies, they are using informal connections online and offline that allows them to create a community that may allow them to go around state repression.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Svensson|first=Marina|date=2012-10-01|title=Media and civil society in China: Community building and networking among investigative journalists and beyond|journal=China Perspectives|volume=2012|issue=3|pages=19–28|doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5934|issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free}}</ref> Specifically, with the development of microblogging, an increase in new community that are formed underlines a possibility of "...more open expressions of solidarity and ironic resistance".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pils|first=Eva|date=2012-10-01|title=Introduction: Discussing "civil society" and "liberal communities" in China|journal=China Perspectives|volume=2012|issue=3|pages=2–7|doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5927|issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, one shortcoming with Internet activism is digital inequality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Liu|first1=Haimeng|last2=Fang|first2=Chuanglin|last3=Sun|first3=Siao|date=Oct 2017|title=Digital inequality in provincial China|journal=Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space|language=en|volume=49|issue=10|pages=2179–2182|doi=10.1177/0308518X17711946|bibcode=2017EnPlA..49.2179L |issn=0308-518X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2016, the number of Internet users reached 731 million, which was about a rate of 53% for Internet penetration.<ref name=":0" /> According to the Information and Communications Technologies Development Index (IDI),<ref>{{Cite web|title=The ICT Development Index (IDI): conceptual framework and methodology|url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis/methodology.aspx|access-date=2021-05-14|website=ITU|language=en-US|archive-date=15 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715204855/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis/methodology.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> China exhibits high inequality in terms of regional and wealth differences.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ITU {{!}} 2017 Global ICT Development Index|url=https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html|access-date=2021-05-14|website=www.itu.int|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525153716/https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2022 study analysed memes of [[Kim Jong-un]] by Chinese social media users. Results has shown how publics can express political opinions, even in a high censorship environment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Bingbing |last2=Gearhart |first2=Sherice |last3=Perlmutter |first3=David D |date=2022 |title=Avoiding online censorship through 'fatty' memes: How Chinese social media users talk about North Korea |journal=Global Media and Communication |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=199–218 |doi=10.1177/17427665221100596 |s2cid=249809419 |issn=1742-7665|doi-access=free |hdl=2346/92451 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Economic impact==
According to the [[BBC]], local Chinese businesses such as Baidu, [[Tencent]] and [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]], some of the world's largest Internet enterprises, benefited from the way China has [[Protectionism|blocked international rivals]] from the market, encouraging domestic competition.<ref name="BBC Alibaba IPO: Chairman Ma's China">Carrie Gracie. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29119121 Alibaba IPO: Chairman Ma's China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702005229/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29119121 |date=2 July 2019 }} . [[BBC]]. 8 September 2014.</ref>

According to ''[[Financial Times]]'', China's crackdown on VPN portals has brought business to state-approved telecom companies.<ref>{{Cite news | title =China's VPN crackdown is about money as much as censorship | url =https://www.ft.com/content/35eafc9a-fcf8-11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167 | work =ft.com | date =22 January 2018 | access-date =2 August 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190802093129/https://www.ft.com/content/35eafc9a-fcf8-11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167 | archive-date =2 August 2019 | url-status =live }}</ref> ''[[Reuters]]'' reported that China's state newspaper has expanded its online censoring business. The company's net income in 2018 has risen 140 percent. Its Shanghai-listed stock price jumped up by 166 percent in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news | title =Censorship pays: China's state newspaper expands lucrative online scrubbing business | url =https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-censorship-idUSKCN1R90JJ | work =Reuters | date =28 March 2019 | access-date =2 August 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190802093130/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-censorship-idUSKCN1R90JJ | archive-date =2 August 2019 | url-status =live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Table of examples of Chinese equivalents to Western Internet services<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/41398423/social-media-and-censorship-in-china-how-is-it-different-to-the-west|title=Social media and censorship in China: how is it different to the West?|date=26 September 2017|website=BBC Newsbeat|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013131646/http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/41398423/social-media-and-censorship-in-china-how-is-it-different-to-the-west|archive-date=13 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
!International service
(blocked in China)
!Chinese equivalent or international equivalent operating in China
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[WhatsApp]]
|[[WeChat]]
|-
|[[Tencent QQ|QQ]]
|-
|[[iMessage]]
|-
|[[FaceTime]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Twitter]]
|[[Sina Weibo]]
|-
|[[Microblogging in China|other weibos]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Google]]
|[[Baidu]]
|-
|[[Google China]]
|-
|[[Microsoft Bing|Bing]]
|-
|[[Sogou]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Gmail]]
|[[Tencent QQ|QQ Mail]]
|-
|[[NetEase|126 and 163 (NetEase)]]
|-
|[[ICloud|iCloud Mail]] (operated by GCBD in mainland China)
|-
|[[Outlook.com]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Google Drive]]
|[[Baidu Wangpan]]
|-
|[[ICloud|iCloud Drive]] (operated by GCBD in mainland China)
|-
|[[OneDrive]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Google Docs]]
|[[Tencent]] Wendang
|-
|[[Microsoft Word]]
|-
|[[LibreOffice Writer]]
|-
|[[Pages (word processor)|Apple Pages]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Google Meet]]
|[[Microsoft Teams]]
|-
|[[FaceTime]]
|-
|[[DingTalk]]
|-
|[[Tencent]] Meeting
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Facebook]]
|[[Qzone]]
|-
|[[Renren]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[YouTube]]
|[[Tencent Video]]
|-
|[[bilibili]]
|-
|[[Youku]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[eBay]]
|[[JD.com]]
|-
|[[Taobao]]
|-
|[[Reddit]]
|[[Baidu Tieba]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Wikipedia]]
|[[Baidu Baike]]
|-
|[[Sogou Baike]]
|-
|[[Baike.com]]
|-
|[[Netflix]]
|[[IQIYI]]
|-
|[[Quora]]
|[[Zhihu]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Spotify]]
|[[QQ Music]]
|-
|[[NetEase Music]]
|-
|[[Kugou]]
|-
|[[Apple Music]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Instagram]]
|[[WeChat]]
|-
|[[Xiaohongshu]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[TikTok]]
|[[Douyin]]
|-
|[[Kuaishou]]
|-
|[[GitHub]]
|[[Gitee]]
|-
| rowspan="4" |[[Google Play|Google Play Store]]
|{{ill|Tencent Yingyongbao|zh|應用寶}}
|-
|[[Huawei AppGallery]]
|-
|Other domestic [[Android (operating system)|Android]] [[app store]]s
|-
|Direct download of [[Apk (file format)|APK]] from developer website
|}

==See also==
* [[Internet censorship]]
* [[List of websites blocked in mainland China]]
* [[Censorship in China]]
* [[Digital divide in China]]
* [[Human rights in China]]
* [[Internet real-name system in China]]
* [[Media of China]]
* [[Censorship of GitHub in China]]
* [[Fake news in India]] 
* [[Indian WhatsApp lynchings]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|Internet|censorship}}
{{Wikibooks|Transwiki: Bypassing the Great Firewall of China}}
{{Library resources box}}
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*[https://en.greatfire.org/ Keywords and URLs censored on the Chinese Internet]
*[http://www.cyberpolice.cn/wfjb/ Cyberpolice.cn (网络违法犯罪举报网站) – Ministry of Public Security P.R. China Information & Network Security] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206174940/http://www.cyberpolice.cn/wfjb/ |date=6 February 2021 }} {{in lang|zh}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20191217135232/https://hikinggfw.org/ A website that lists and detects all blocked websites by GFW.]
*[http://www.websitepulse.com/help/testtools.china-test.html A website to test if a resource is blocked websites by GFW.]

<!--
Too many news links. Kept here since some may be of use as refs.

; News reports
*[http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/22/china.google.reax/index.html China fires back at cyber attack charges][[CNN]], 22 January 2010
*[http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/21/clinton.internet/index.html Clinton: Internet 'information curtain' is dropping][[CNN]], 21 January 2010
*[http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/14/china.google/ Censors back on Google as China defends Internet actions][[CNN]], 14 January 2010
*[http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/01/15/vause.china.govt.google.reax.cnn China reacts to Google threat][[CNN]], 15 January 2009
* [http://www.channel4.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-storypage.jsp?id=1961 Blogging on] report on blogging in China, 16 March 2006
* [http://web.amnesty.org/web/content.nsf/pages/gbr_china_internet People's Republic of China: State control of the Internet] Amnesty International, 27 February 2002
* [http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=366 CHINA: Government blocks religious websites] Forum 18 News, 21 July 2004
* [http://www.rsf.org/int_blackholes_en.php3?id_mot=88 The Internet "black holes" – China] Reporters sans frontières – Internet press releases from 2002 to 2007
* [http://tomcarter.newsvine.com/_news/2007/02/15/569719-the-chinese-internet-crash-of-2007-calamity-or-capitalism The Chinese Internet Crash of 2007 – Calamity or Capitalism?] NewsVine report.
* [http://www.thomascrampton.com/media/best-blog-hosting-service-to-sidestep-chinas-great-firewall/ Discussion about the best hosting services for websites and blogs looking to get around the Great Firewall.]
* Cherry, Steven (2005). "[https://archive.today/20121220200929/http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun05/1219 The Net Effect: As China's Internet gets a much-needed makeover, will the new network promote freedom or curtail it?]". [[IEEE Spectrum]] Online (2005).
* Clayton, Murdoch, and Watson (2006). "[http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rnc1/ignoring.pdf Ignoring the Great Firewall of China]". Privacy Enhancing Technologies Workshop, Cambridge, UK. To appear in workshop proceedings.
* Collins, Dan (2002). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinas-internet-censorship/ China's Internet Censorship], CBS, 3 December 2002
* Crandall, Zinn, Byrd, Barr, and East (2007). "[http://www.cs.unm.edu/~crandall/concept_doppler_ccs07.pdf ConceptDoppler: A Weather Tracker for Internet Censorship]". ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, Alexandria, VA, USA. To appear in conference proceedings.
* Hermida, Alfred (2002). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2234154.stm Behind China's internet Red Firewall], BBC, 3 September 2002
* James, Randy (2009). [https://web.archive.org/web/20090321062640/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1885961,00.html A Brief History of Chinese Internet Censorship], ''TIME'', 18 March 2009
* Pan, Phillip (2006). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/18/AR2006021801389.html The Click That Broke a Government's Grip] The Washington Post, 19 February 2006
* Qiang, Xiao (2005). [http://www.uscc.gov/hearings/2005hearings/written_testimonies/05_04_14wrts/qiang_xiao_wrts.htm The Development and the State Control of the Chinese Internet], China Internet Project, The Graduate School of Journalism, University of California at Berkeley, 14 April 2005
* Sim Chi Yin, [http://www.straitstimes.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e4ee609aab340210VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f511758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD "Mythical creature a not-so-secret weapon against Net nannies"], Straits Times, 27 March 2009
* Tao, Wenzhao (2001). "[http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_1/tao/index.html Censorship and protest: The regulation of BBS in China People Daily]". ''First Monday'', v.6, n.1 (January 2001).
* Tsui, Lokman (2001). "[http://www.lokman.nu/thesis Big Mama is Watching You: Internet Control by the Chinese government]". Unpublished MA thesis, University of Leiden.
* Walton, Greg. (2001).  [http://www.ichrdd.ca/english/commdoc/publications/globalization/goldenMenu.html China's Golden Shield]. International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120323215225/http://march12.rsf.org/i/Report_EnemiesoftheInternet_2012.pdf Internet Enemies: China], [[Reporters Without Borders]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110423033632/http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/China2011.pdf Freedom on the Net 2011: China]-[[Freedom House]]: Freedom on the Net Report
* {{YouTube|SUNi3mimQDQ|Jimmy Wales talks about the Internet censorship in China}}

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{{Censorship and websites}}
{{Internet censorship}}
{{Censorship}}
{{Censorship in China}}
{{China national security}}
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{{Internet censorship circumvention technologies}}
{{Asia in topic|Internet censorship in}}
{{Portal bar|China|Internet|Law}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Internet censorship in China}}
[[Category:Internet censorship in China| ]]
[[Category:Human rights abuses in China]]
[[Category:Internet in China]]
[[Category:Internet censorship by country|China]]
[[Category:Internet censorship in Asia|China]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Mass surveillance in China]]