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.
Introduction
China has a high number of internet users, estimated at about 990 million,1 and a host of popular social media applications, including Tencent WeChat, Sina Weibo and Baidu Tieba. This digital access is tempered, however, with extensive domestic laws and regulations that significantly restrict freedom of expression online. COVID-19 has provided the Chinese government with further opportunity to restrict online content and promote the state’s own narrative about its handling of the pandemic.
This paper starts by mapping the Chinese government’s restrictions on online freedom of expression, drawing on recent examples that have arisen in the COVID-19 context. The paper then analyses the degree to which the situation regarding online freedom of expression in China can be said to be unique, and the degree to which the government’s approach shapes wider trends in Asia, both before and during COVID-19. The impact on the region of Western technologies and models is also examined.
Finally, the paper considers the trend of tightening restrictions on online freedom of expression in the broader context of 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, and the country’s growing ambitions for its ‘Digital Silk Road’ initiative.
Statista (2020), ‘Number of internet users in China from December 2008 to December 2020’, www.statista.com/statistics/265140/number-of-internet-users-in-china (accessed 2 Mar. 2021).