How Does Censorship Work in China Recently
date
Dec 29, 2022
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current-censorship-status-in-china-2022
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Published
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China has strict rules for internet users in the country. The rules are so strict that the public has started avoiding of having pictures of banned incidents.
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Oguz Dagli
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News
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How Does Censorship Work in China Recently - FastVPN
These days, China is living in 1984 by George Orwell. The public cannot speak in cyberspace anything at all. Since we communicate digitally now, it is obvious that internet censorship blocks almost 90% of our communication. The Chinese government has the power of controlling nearly the whole internet in China. That is why Chinese people are living in 1984.
Recently, just before the CCP’s 20th national congress, someone managed to hang off two banners on a bridge. The first banner called for reforms, freedoms, elections, dignity and an end to the government’s strict ‘zero Covid’ policy. The second banner read: ‘Boycott schools, go on strikes, remove the dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping.’
Photos and videos started spreading quickly. However, the government reacted faster. The words ‘Beijing’, ‘bridge’, ‘Haidian’ and related terms were blocked from social media and communication apps. By the end of the next day, everything related to the incident vanished from the internet. It was like nothing happened. Most people have never heard anything about the banners on the bridge.
The incident has been cleared out from the internet. But it doesn’t mean that the protesters weren’t punished. Some individuals who shared photos or videos of the bridge protest were banned from Weibo or WeChat apps.
Note: China has banned almost all the apps from the US and Europe. That is why most people connect all of their accounts to these two apps. Having all the necessary apps in one app is useful. On the other hand, if you are banned from that one app, you almost lose your digital identity.
People lost their digital identity including their health QR codes and online subscriptions. It was a punishment in return for their action. The victims begged for their accounts. Some of the hundreds of users even wrote ‘confession letters’ on WeChat containing phrases like ‘I have profoundly realized my mistake’ and ‘I won’t let down the party and the country.’
What Is The Goal of The Government With These Censorships on The Internet?
Everyone communicates through the internet now. When the government has absolute control over the internet, it can control what people talk about. Any kind of case that the government doesn’t approve, doesn’t spread through the public. The bridge protest is a perfect example of that. The keywords were restricted from the internet, and the protestors were punished. None of the media agencies shared any kind of information related to the incident. The public has no idea about the bridge protest (or they pretend).
These kinds of punishments lead the public to self-censorship. Nobody dares to say anything negative about the current government. Because the punishment is heavier than the action.
Is a VPN Solution to Censorship on The Internet?
Absolutely, yes! But not in China. A VPN creates a tunnel between a user’s device to a server in different countries. If there is a restriction in a country you can pretend to connect from a different country and access the restricted content or website. But using a VPN is illegal in China.
Conclusion
As we always mention, the internet should be a free environment. It is the biggest opportunity for mankind to improve. Still, the governments block the internet in order to hold the power in their hands.
China has already taken control of the internet. The result; people scares even having banned photos and videos on their devices.
Iran is trying to build a system in order to control the whole internet in the country.
Many other countries apply excessive censorship on the internet.
FastVPN aims to bring freedom to the individual internet. Unblock websites, reach out to all the information and hide your activities from prying eyes.
