Humans have entered an era where information is easily accessible. At a certain point in time, everyone can learn the truth about their country’s history thanks to the instantaneous nature of the internet. Even China, a nation that has tried to keep a tight grip over what should be known and unknown, will face citizens who ask hard questions and then find the answers. The People’s Republic of China has been recognized as authoritarian from the perspective of the West. Criticism of the Chinese government is prohibited within the country. Any sort of verbal attack or insult that seems like criticism is met with criminal punishment.
Now, it is much harder to keep track of all these critical statements aimed at the government in an online space. China has expanded its dominance on the internet by creating a personalized firewall for every internet user in the country. China won’t allow people to find any information that makes to government look bad. For instance, imagine a young man from China who was born in the 2000s and had no knowledge of Chinese history from the past twenty years before his birth. One day, that man decides to google Tiananmen square massacre to see what he information he can find. This man discovers that the number of results from his search total zero.
The man doesn’t think anything of it and goes about his life singing China’s national anthem, believing that everything his country does is righteous. This is exactly what China wants. No one is allowed to question authority or the government when it is believed to be making the wrong decisions. Even though many view these restrictions as a problem, that doesn’t people are constantly trying to find a way around them. Many people resort to using a VPN, making it much more difficult for the person to be tracked and found out by the law of the internet. Even so, China has made it harder for people to purchase a VPN, as those who are selling end up getting arrested.
The actual topic of debate becomes whether or not these restrictions are necessary. People may not want to live in a period where the internet is within reach but not free and open. It is understandable to restrict specific sites to temper hostilities from political factions. What goes a bridge too far is controlling every aspect of the internet to paint this perfect image of the country. While perfection is desirable, it is also essential to consider how a government obtains this model. Critique of a nation’s leaders is meant to be helpful, not harmful.
More information about the fire wall can be found in this video and article below.
International Affairs by Jack Peeples 
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