Panopticism of Internet Censorship in China

In recent years, China has been expanding their Internet censorship in significant manners, carrying them to the cutting edge of the media spotlight. The government has been tightening their grip and applying more restrictions on information and content that is published online. China filters internet traffic in and out of the country through the firewall and use the AS-level topology of their network to find the locations. In both academia and the press internet censorship has been a popular topic. Academic research and media reports have inspected the Chinese government's using extensive strategies and new techniques of censorship to control the Chinese citizens.

1. Introduction.

China has the most advanced Internet censorship system in the world, in this system, they are using IP blocking, keyword filtering, and so on. The earliest filtering mechanism is IP blocking because web professionals can easily change their IP records.

In present-day China, anything from online news sources to individual web-based life records is an easy game for the government to control everything because they build a successful solid firewall for this purpose, and violators of the laws and guidelines with respect to Internet speech can encounter consequences for their posts.

2. The Great Firewall of China.

China has one of the world’s strictest censorship policies. Media is directly controlled by the state and the state is not yet willing to loosen its tight grip on information. The authorities also tried to impose control schemes onto the new medium Internet. Internet in China has become bigger and more diversified, and internet access has become available to more and more citizens, voices of foreign critics condemning censorship and internet control also have become louder by every year.

3. Censorship and Technical Filtering.

The Government of China does not give any details of the hardware and software used to control the flow of information from and to China through the internet. Most of the traffic in China is routed through systems from Cisco Systems that are used to handle the internet traffic in China and all the traffic has to pass through the networks of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and these networks create a single gateway to the international internet, which is easy to control. The basic principles of the Great Firewall of China is to fix loopholes found in its firewall and change mechanisms, and for this purpose, they use three basic techniques:” IP blocking, DNS tampering, and URL blocking using a proxy. These techniques are used to block access to specific Webpages, domains, or IP addresses.

4. Laws and Regulations.

The first regulation, The Temporary Regulation for the Management of Computer Information Network International Connection, was promulgated in 1996 and amended in 1997 and 2000 to keep up with the development of the internet industry. The 2000 amendments include regulations to govern telecommunications and the publication of news and electronic information on the internet; all of them, like the Measures for the Administration of Internet information services, include a list of forbidden content. One distinct feature of this list of forbidden content, which is based on Regulations Governing the Administration of the Publishing Industry, is that the list is drafted extremely vague. For example, any content that, endangers national security, discloses state secrets subverts the government, destroys the unity of the country, Damages the honor and the interests of the State, disturbs social order, undermines social stability is forbidden.

5. Heavy Restrictions.

The government introduced a counterterrorism law that requires all telecommunications companies and internet service providers to provide copies of encryption keys and backdoor access to the government. China's restrictions range from strengthening its national firewall to blocking several internet providers of private networks to making some internet offenses punished by a prison sentence. The government strengthened their registration laws for:

• Online public forums, Blogs.
• Instant messaging.
• Social networking sites.
• Comment sections of websites.

6. Scrutiny.

There are certain things that can gain an internet user in China more attention than others. For example, being internet-famous in China is not necessarily something to be desired. Famous commenters on social media are much more likely to be scrutinized, censored or jailed due to something they post and are therefore forced to put much more thought and planning into their comments. While posts that criticize the government are certainly targets for censorship and government attention, those that do not criticize the government can also be censored if they seem to contain a call to action. For example:

• Authorities censored posts in March of 2011 that spread the rumor that radiation poisoning from the production of nuclear power could be deterred by salt because it had led to a strain on the commodity nationwide.
• In March of 2015, Chinese authorities shut down a discussion on a documentary entitled under the Dome that triggered a nationwide discussion about pollution.

However, small-time internet users who are not as wildly popular as others are often able to get away with posting more, as the government does not consider them or their influence to be a threat.

7. Panopticism.

Panopticism is a concept mediated by French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984), based on a prison model (the Panopticon) invented by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748- 1832). Panopticism is very popular in the 1970s and was used in many social and cultural analyses throughout the 1980s and 90s. The concept obtained some attention in connection with analyses of internet monitoring schemes, data collection mechanisms, and also with regard to censorship mechanisms because today’s technical standards allow a greater degree of observation, a point which is essential for the functioning panoptical mechanisms. The Panopticon is seen as a compact model of the disciplinary mechanism, an ‘expression in a pure form of realizable technology of power’, but also a model applicable to our modern society. This principle can also be seen in the Great Firewall. The firewall is not inviolable; it can be circumvented by different technical means.

8. Role of Media.

In China, the main supplier of the information is Xinhua, the state-owned news agency. Xinhua has a monopoly on the domestic news service in China, and all news media are required to use it as the only news source. Production of content by the media is allowed but within strict limits. Besides delivering news to the Chinese media, Xinhua also publishes about 40 different journals and newspapers, more than 400 books each year. The news agency holds a specific monopoly on topics like “Party and government policies, important meetings, leadership activities, and talks on both domestic and foreign affairs, appointments, dismissals and deaths of important leaders.” As long as media outlets only republish news from Xinhua no further self-censorship is needed, as the news are censored already. Many websites will copy news from Xinhua not only to circumvent conflicts with the government but also to reduce personnel costs. But competition between state-owned and private media outlets is becoming fierce as a result of the growth of the Chinese market, and of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, which will cause more and more foreign media companies to enter the mainland market. Private enterprises naturally depend on the revenue they generate. Given that subsidies are declining Chinese state-owned companies also increasingly depend on advertising, which forces them to adapt to the market and compete with foreign companies. Privately owned websites rank among the most visited sites in China as compared to government sites. Private internet companies no longer wait for Xinhua news to be published but engage in news reporting to attract readers and sometimes contradict with official information.

9. Internet Censorship Awareness.

When talking about censorship of the internet in China, it should be once more made clear that most Westerners and most Chinese have a different views on this topic. Western criticism on Chinese internet control mainly focuses on the censorship of politically sensitive topics and the constraints put on free speech, but most Chinese associate internet control with the ban of pornographic and other ‘unhealthy’ content. A survey, conducted by a team of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) found out that 85% of respondents thought that the internet should be controlled by the Chinese government, while putting emphasis on the control of pornographic (87%) and violent (86%) content, as well as the control of spam mail (83%), advertisements (66%) and slander against individuals (64%). Only 41% said that political content should be controlled. As has been shown, netizens are certainly aware that certain topics cannot be touched, and that specific content, like pornographic and violent content, is filtered by the Chinese government.

10. Countermeasures.

There is a wide range of strategies available to the Chinese internet user on how to circumvent blocks, and how to surf the internet anonymously.

10.1. Proxy Servers.

The simplest and most convenient way of getting access to restricted information is by using so-called proxy servers. There are lots of ways to redirect traffic to international proxies, either via telling the browsing software to re-route its traffic through a specific IP address or by surfing to proxy web pages that provide a detour to non-accepted sites. Many Chinese internet users know what proxy servers are, 30% of Chinese internet users reported to have used proxies before, and 10% do so on a regular basis. Lists of proxy servers are said to circulate among internet users and to be forwarded via e-mail.

10.2. Virtual Private Networks.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) provide a way to get unlimited access to information. Most VPNs encrypt the data transfer between the server providing the data and the user requesting the data, therefore making it impossible for censors to see which websites are requested. VPNs are a necessity for most banks and companies doing business in China, making it unlikely that the Chinese government will crackdown on them. Different from proxies, VPNs are almost never free of charge, which makes this service uninteresting or even unaffordable for most Chinese netizens.

11. Conclusion.

The Great Firewall of China is not as complex and impenetrable as it is sometimes assumed, that it relies on rather simple principles, and can be circumvented easily, these technical imperfections may not hamper the effectiveness of censorship. Rather than trying to control every bit of information, China’s government has changed the approach from censorship to self-censorship. Media associations are useful tools for the Chinese state to group internet companies and force them to impose so-called self-regulations. It has also been shown that besides pressure from officials and the government most media companies also face pressure from advertisement companies and stockholders, which increasingly determine what content may be shown and what content has to be regarded as inappropriate. Chinese internet users are also more likely to censor themselves. Because users are not sure on whether they are being monitored or not, many choose to restrict themselves not to get into trouble with the government.

Some discussions about taboo topics like Taiwan and Tiananmen, Countermeasures against censorship are also known among Chinese citizens, but they are not generally used. The fear of becoming the subject of investigation induces users to avoid using well-known methods to

circumvent blocks. Many internet users are also not interested in politics but are more concerned with news about stars and other kind of soft news, distracting themselves from problematic news and discussions, that could possibly get them into trouble with the authorities. It is difficult to make any assumptions on the coming development of internet censorship, but in my opinion, this strategy will not change in the short run. Interviews have shown that young internet users want more freedom of speech and less content control is unlikely to be heard in the near future.

12. References.

1. Internet censorship in china and around the world. https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/internet-censorship-in-china-and-around-the-world.html.
2. Internet censorship in china, where does the filtering occur? https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-19260-9_14.
3. A Confucian look at internet censorship in china. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317030362_A_Confucian_Look_at_Internet_Censorship_in_China.
4. Internet censorship in china by Chinese internet users. https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/opus4-wuerzburg/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/2786/file/Thuenken_Florian_Internet_Censorship_in_China.pdf.
5. Internet censorship in the Arab spring seen from china. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077699015606670?casa_token=Fu80QfO, https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/internet-censorship-in-china-and-around-the-world.html, https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/internet-censorship-in-china-and-around-the-world.html, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-19260-9_14, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317030362_A_Confucian_Look_at_Internet_Censorship_in_China, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317030362_A_Confucian_Look_at_Internet_Censorship_in_China, https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/opus4-wuerzburg/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/2786/file/Thuenken_Florian_Internet_Censorship_in_China.pdf, https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/opus4-wuerzburg/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/2786/file/Thuenken_Florian_Internet_Censorship_in_China.pdf, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077699015606670casa_token=Fu80QfOXxasAAAAA:9SlSIPQ3P9TXseXEvA1q8CT4oqlDiKhS_8hpc4QtNSHlu6tHyDTHjZvUzSTn6pCQHYxXLUBZ5aE5)XxasAAAAA:9SlSIPQ3P9TXseXEvA1q8CT4oqlDiKhS_8hpc4QtNSHlu6tHyDTHjZvUzSTn6pCQHYxXLUBZ5aE5)
6. Bandurski, David, “Pulling the Strings of China’s Internet”, in Far Eastern Economic Review December 2007. P. 18-21.
7. Boyne, Roy, “Post-Panopticism”, in Economy and Society Volume 29 Number 2 May 2000. P. 285- 307.
8. Chan, Joesph Man, ”Administrative boundaries and media marketization: A comparative analysis of the newspaper, TV and Internet markets in China”, in Lee, Chin-Chuan (Editor), Chinese Media, Global Contexts. London: RouledgeCourzon 2003. P. 159-176.
9. Giese, Karsten, “Freier Diskurs oder perfekter Überwachungsstaat? Identity Work im chinesischen Internet”, in China aktuell 1/2005. P. 35-51.
10. Giese, Karsten and Müller, Constanze, “Ethisch-moralische Grenzen öffentlicher Kommunikation - vernachlässigte Dimension im Diskurs um Internetzensur in China”, in China aktuell 4/2007. P. 74-95.
11. McCormick, Barret L. and Liu, Qing, “Globalization and the Chinese media”, in Lee, Chin-Chuan (Editor), Chinese Media, Global Contexts. London: RouledgeCourzon 2003. P. 139-157.
12. Newton, Kenneth, “Mass Media Effects: Mobilization or Media Malaise?”, in British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Oct. 1999). P. 577-599.
13. Scharping, Thomas, “Administration, Censorship and Control in the Chinese media: The State of the Art”, in China aktuell 4/2007. P. 96-118. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077699015606670?casa_token=Fu80QfOXxasAAAAA:9SlSIPQ3P9TXseXEvA1q8CT4oqlDiKhS_8hpc4QtNSHlu6tHyDTHjZvUzSTn6pCQHYxXLUBZ5aE5), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077699015606670?casa_token=Fu80QfOXxasAAAAA:9SlSIPQ3P9TXseXEvA1q8CT4oqlDiKhS_8hpc4QtNSHlu6tHyDTHjZvUzSTn6pCQHYxXLUBZ5aE5)