China, a country with a population of over 1.3 billion, is also known for having some of the toughest internet restrictions in the entire world. Internet Censorship is sometimes referred to as the “Great Firewall of China.”
The Chinese government says that internet censorship is because of the anonymous posting on Internet platforms that poke fun at the government. So, how did this censorship start?
After the arrival of the internet in 1994, the internet became a standard communication tool. The internet user percentage also increased at a rapid rate to 28.8% in 2009.
However, in 1998 the Communist Party of China feared that this rapid growth of the internet would result in a network that the government would not be able to control.
“Golden Shield Project” was a database project with which the government could access the records of each citizen. Similarly, the government would have the power to delete any comment online that would be harmful to the Chinese government.
According to Amnesty, China has employed around 30,000 to 50,000 people as the Internet police to actively monitor and enforce internet laws.
This internet censorship has led to a completely different internet landscape in China than the rest of the world. Chinese companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent etc have had extreme success despite such stringiest censorship.
How do you feel about the internet censorship in China? Let us know in the comments!!
