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Information prison
Since China began controlling its citizens' Internet access in the mid-1990s, the censors have been engaged in an arms race with activists and developers to block tools that helped people jump over the Firewall and close loopholes that popped up.hBZ免费翻墙网
Experts warn that as Beijing dedicates more and more money and effort to the fight, it may become increasingly one-sided.hBZ免费翻墙网
"In the long run, people shouldn't think that there might always be a technical solution to bypass censorship," said Robert Knapp, chief executive and co-founder of Romania-based CyberGhost VPN, which, among other things, makes tools that assist people in bypassing internet controls.hBZ免费翻墙网
Earlier this year, China's legislature, the National People's Congress, published a draft cybersecurity law that would cement government control over the internet and online activity. The measure is still under review.hBZ免费翻墙网
Officials maintain that it would protect the personal data of Chinese users and "safeguard national cyberspace sovereignty, security and development."hBZ免费翻墙网
Chinese author and anti-censorship advocate Murong Xuecun echoes many critics when he says: "The [Great Firewall] fences in a Chinese information prison where ignorance fosters ideologies of hatred and aggression. If the firewall exists indefinitely, China will eventually revert to what it once was: a sealed off, narrow-minded, belligerent, rogue state."hBZ免费翻墙网
The Cyberspace Administration of China didn't respond to multiple CNN requests for comment.hBZ免费翻墙网
Jell-o, nailed
Beijing's attempts to control the 'net were once written off as misguided and doomed to fail. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton memorably likened it to an attempt to "nail Jell-o to a wall."hBZ免费翻墙网
Like the Chinese Communist Party itself however, the Great Firewall has not only outlasted any and all predictions of its imminent demise, but thrived and grown both in size and sophistication. According to researchers at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, only about 1 to 3% of Chinese Internet users regularly jump the Firewall to browse the open Internet.hBZ免费翻墙网
Some of the more enthusiastic and unlikely jumpers have been state media employees and propaganda officials, who most recently used Facebook and Twitter to promote President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S.hBZ免费翻墙网
The harmonized web
Part of Beijing's success is undoubtedly down to the accomplishments of the country's homegrown tech industry, which has long cloned popular blocked services, creating Chinese versions that are as good if not better than their inspiration.hBZ免费翻墙网
Instead of Google, Chinese users have Baidu; instead of Twitter, they have Weibo; and instead of Facebook, there's WeChat; and for the majority of Chinese people, that appears to be enough. WeChat alone has more than 600 million monthly active users, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue.hBZ免费翻墙网
However, as many researchers have shown, while these services are popular, they are also heavily filtered and censored, shutting down discussion on everything from the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 to gossip about officials' extra-marital affairs.
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