This paper maps the Chinese government’s restrictions on online freedom of expression, and explores their domestic, regional and international implications. It examines China’s model of internet control, censorship and surveillance, drawing on recent examples that have arisen in the COVID-19 context. It analyses the degree to which this approach shapes wider trends and online restrictions in the rest of Asia, looking also at the influence of Western policies and technologies. And it reviews China’s growing influence on global technology governance in multilateral and bilateral settings. This includes China’s increasing assertiveness in international debates about digital technology regulation, its promotion of a vision of ‘cyber sovereignty’ that emphasizes state surveillance and control, and the leadership’s ambitions for the ‘Digital Silk Road’ initiative.
About the authors
Harriet Moynihan is a senior research fellow with the International Law Programme at Chatham House. Harriet leads on the programme’s cyber and online work, including the relationship between international human rights law and internet governance. Harriet was formerly a legal adviser at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and in 2019 was a visiting fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, where her research focused on internet governance.
Dr Champa Patel is the director of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House. Before joining Chatham House, she was the regional director and senior research adviser for the South Asia and Southeast Asia and Pacific offices of Amnesty International, responsible for managing the research, campaigns, media and advocacy for the region.