- When the US House of Representatives passed the legislation that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok, a popular video app, to an American company or face being banned in the US, citing national security concerns, the Chinese government criticized the move as “an act of bullying.” Yet, ironically, TikTok is also unavailable in China, and it is not an isolated case. For example, Alibaba’s popular messaging platform, Ding Talk, is also unavailable in China, and its local version is called Ding Ding.
- A recent research report on Apple censorship in China, “Isolation by Design,” conducted by the App Censorship project under GreatFire, a censorship monitor group based in China, indicates that more than 60 percent of the world’s top 100 apps in China Apple App stores are either unavailable or inaccessible in China. These apps include Google Maps, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Messenger and Twitter.
- While China has warned the West against economic decoupling, the country’s censorship system is designed for the purpose of isolation, as highlighted by the GreatFire research team.
Aside from the game sector, the App Censorship research team has identified eight sensitive categories from the list of apps banned by Apple in China:
1. Virtual private network – VPN: 240 unavailable apps including Lantern VPN, ProtonVPN, ExpressVPN, Nord VPN.
2. Privacy & Digital Security: 29 unavailable apps including Signal, ProtonMail, DuckDuckGo.
3. LGBTQ+ & Dating: 67 unavailable apps, including Hinge, Adam4Adam, weBelong, and Grindr.
4. News, Media & Information: 170 unavailable apps, including NYTimes, BBC News, and Reuters.
5. Social Media & Communication: 96 unavailable apps, including Skype, LinkedIn, Viber, Damus, and Line.
6. Tibet & Buddhism: 41 unavailable apps, including Himalaya Lib, MonlamGrandTibetanDictionary.
7. Uyghur: 72 unavailable apps, including RFA Uyghur, Hayatnuri, Awazliq Kitap, and UYGHUR MAN.
8. Religion: 144 unavailable apps, including the Bible App by Olive Tree, Quran Majeed, TORAH, JW Library.
We know. The entire goal of their internet policy is to control exactly what their population can access, which means they have an isolated network, by any means necessary.
It’s like crazy ex syndrome. They block you, but if you block them back in reciprocating fashion now your the bad person.
- Virtual private network – VPN: 240 unavailable apps including Lantern VPN, ProtonVPN, ExpressVPN, Nord VPN.
When assessing a VPN, using one that’s blocked in China seems to be a safe item to check.
Wouldn’t it make sense for them to buy out a couple and still offer it outside of China as a honeypot? Westerners be like “China banned? Sign me up” and add it to their banned list?
Meanwhile China be like
“We know you not like ricecakes and logged VPN”
🫸ô🫷
Probably, but any thought that VPNs keep you anonymous to anyone other then script kiddies and minor companies is fool hardy
Is there a more comprehensive overview of this or can you expand on if not using a VPN is better?
Something, something, fingerprinting, logging in to identifiable services etc?
Most of the time those VPNs banned are still not effective to get pass GFW. A lot of people would have to buy special VPN service using protocols like Shadowsocks/ShadowsocksR/Trojan/Vmess/Vless with using specific softwares like shadowrocket or Surge or Clash or Quantumult to bypass the GFW.
Borders in cyberspace is the future. There are increased efforts to regulate the internet everywhere. Think copyright, age verification, the GDPR, or even anti-CSAM laws. It’s all about making sure that information is only available to people who are permitted to access it. China is really leading the way here.
We do not agree with China’s regulations, but that only means that we need border controls. Data must be checked for regulatory compliance with local laws.
The ‘cyberspace’ is designed to be decentralized, exactly the opposite of what you describe. China is trying to ‘lead the way’ into an Orwellian dystopia, and that’s among the least things we need.
What an awful and terrifying thought.
At least it would be if internet regulation was practically enforceable for anyone other than commercial businesses operating out in the open.
it would be if internet regulation was practically enforceable for anyone other than commercial businesses operating out in the open.
Well, then I guess we just have to call for more government enforcement.
In the EU, there is certainly more government pressure, instead of just lawsuits between big (or small) players.
The only way to really do that would be to essentially make it impossible to have easy, private, secure, and anonymous access to the internet and freedom respecting computing.
Those things are, as far as I’m concerned, inalienable human rights.
If that’s your goal please never touch any regulation involving the internet ever.
https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence becomes more relevant every year somehow
