China has always been concerned with its own security. From Mongolian hordes to insurgencies in the southwest border regions, they have had to put their proverbial and literal shields up. However, in recent years the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has turned this into a virtual firewall to isolate and monitor their own. The breadth of China’s social surveillance program aka the Great Firewall (GFW) is unrivalled in its breadth and technological advancement by any other known intelligence and surveillance program worldwide.
Cyber Legions
Legions of CCP employees and “contractors” monitor the phone, email, and social media avenues of communication to identify potential dissidents. This “firewall” they have created expands farther than the scouring of the web. Through an amalgamation of technological and legislative actions, they remove any possible content that may remotely affect the views of the Chinese people.
The CCP alleges that their power to deprive the people of free usage of the internet is engrained in the simple right of the state to govern within their borders as they please. Pursuant to Chinese sovereignty, the Information Office of the State Council states that this is part of the protection of the state. The document published online states:
“China should be respected and protected. Citizens of the People’s Republic of China and foreign citizens, legal persons and other organizations within Chinese territory have the right and freedom to use the Internet; at the same time, they must obey the laws and regulations of China and conscientiously protect Internet security.”
ChinaNet
Legally, all internet traffic coming into the country from any outside Internet Service Provider (ISP) must be routed through the state-owned ChinaNet. This content cannot contain links or offer any other outside content that contains outside news or website materials. Some of the regulations surrounding this content cannot violate certain laws, such as,
“Making falsehoods or distorting the truth, spreading rumours, destroying the order of society,” or, “Injuring the reputation of state organs.”
DNS Spoofing
In addition to the legal framework in place to constrain the usage of internet resources, they have used technological avenues as well. Domain Name Server (DNS) spoofing is used to disrupt the ability to access sites by rerouting the website’s digital “name” to return an invalid result.
These measures are all combined to create a digital ecosystem where the CCP controls every aspect of online life. Additionally, the activities of the users are heavily monitored, logged, and if necessary investigated. Not only is suspicious activity investigated, but inadequate or sub-par activity such as not logging in regularly is a red flag.
What’s Next
In a vacuum, China’s social surveillance program, spanning decades, is quite admirable. The ability of a government entity to have a virtually inescapable grip on internet surveillance is unlike anything seen in the developed world. While there will always be those that seek to find gaps in this system, the rate of expansion of this great firewall is unlikely to be low or be curbed in the foreseeable future. Even more troubling is the export of this technology to other autocratic states around Africa.
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