Internet Censorship In China Essay

The Internet today is rapidly taking over the importance of traditional news and information sources such as newspapers, radio and television in developed countries. Governments in non-democratic regimes and authoritarian societies usually have a certain form of control over traditional media, and together with the development of the Internet they, to various extents and successes, try to control and restrict this relatively new informational flow as well. In its 2015 report on Freedom in the World, Freedom House comes to the conclusion that decline in Internet freedom is one of the most notable 2014 developments when it comes to free speech, and that is one of the main reasons why looking at Internet censorship is highly relevant. Taking a

Indeed, for centuries control and censorship have been practicable means in Russia due to long-established authoritarian traditions. However, the censoring of the Internet is a new development. Especially since 2011, Putin has strengthened his grip on the Internet by implementing numerous legislations and, according to some scholars, attempted to create a local equivalent to China’s Great Firewall. Therefore, taking into account the given situations, this paper will focus on the usage and access to the Internet of the Chinese and Russian citizens, the objectives that both countries pursue to limit Internet freedom, the reasons behind such course of actions, and the success of the censorship imposition. Finally, a conclusion in regards to the similarities and differences between Internet censorship in China and Russia will be reached, and an attempt to look at the future of censorship in both countries will be

In fact, China has the world’s most complex censorship system, which is implemented due to political, moral and commercial reasons. Essentially, the most prevalent form of censorship in China is imposed in regard to political motivations. China controls the access to the Internet on domestic and international levels. It censors the Internet through the ‘Golden Shield’, which is a complex and highly developed project operated by the Ministry of Public Security. It limits and blocks the access to foreign websites such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Google. It has been worked on and improved since its start in the 1990s, and has become one of the most advanced tools of censorship the world has ever seen. The censorship and surveillance of Internet activity, as well as the blocked access to certain foreign websites, is commonly referred to as ‘the Great Firewall of China’ , which is presumably run by 30 000 employees. In addition to governmental regulatory bodies implementing the censorship, the Chinese Government is strongly assisted by global companies, such as Google and Microsoft, in censoring content available to their users. In addition to limiting access to certain websites, a complex filtering system that aims to prevent access to specific ‘damaging