China Further Tightens Grip on the Internet

An open internet nurtures innovation as well as dissidence, yet regulations fail to discern between the two. Chinese attempt to block sites that allow privacy and select sharing could backfire, actually instigating more protests by frustrating China’s most productive users. “By interfering with Astrill and several other popular virtual private networks, or V.P.N.s, the government has complicated the lives of Chinese astronomers seeking the latest scientific data from abroad, graphic designers shopping for clip art on Shutterstock and students submitting online applications to American universities,” reports Andrew Jacobs for the New York Times, adding the move comes when growth is slowing and “those who require access to an unfiltered Internet are the very people Beijing has been counting on to transform the nation’s low-end manufacturing economy into one fueled by entrepreneurial innovation.” Multinational firms are alarmed about constraints in the world’s largest market. Chinese officials are unabashed about goals to control content in the name of cyber-sovereignty and give their own internet products a boost. – YaleGlobal