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Adam Burke
Collette Caton
UWRT.150.16/61
7 November 2016
The Freedom of the Internet
In 2015, the International Telecommunications Union estimated that there were 3.2
billion internet users. The internet allows people to communicate with others all around the
world, sharing ideas, news, photos memories and other content. All a person needs today is a
social media account, a blog, or a basic website and they can begin to writing and sharing their
thoughts and ideas on anything they would like. Assuming they are not being censored. In the
United States, many people overlook the fact that they can access information so easily. As of
September 30, 2016, there are 1.79 billion monthly active users on Facebook per Facebooks
published statistics. However, if the Chinese government has its way, not one of those users will
be connecting from inside China. Although the internet is a globalized network of
communication and writing counties such as China do not have as many freedoms to access
information as those in the United States. This control has negative side effects on the world by
limiting the knowledge Chinese internet users can gather and learn from (removing human
rights) while additionally decreasing economic growth and de-globalizing the world.
The restricted access internet users have in China isnt because there is no internet access
within the country. In fact, its quite the contrary; 700 million people use the internet in China,
making 1 in 4 global internet users a user inside China, as described by Simon Denyer who is
The Washington Posts Chinese Bureaus Chief. He is a graduate of Trinity College in
Cambridge, England. In his article Chinas Scary Lesson to the World: Censoring the Internet

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Works, he describes how Chinese citizens do not have limitless access to what they can access
on the internet because the Chinese Government has used their power to censor it. Blocking
some websites, such as Facebook, completely. When the internet was first introduced to China,
their government began censoring it. This internet censorship established by the government was
soon coined The Great Firewall of China. The system has been constructed over the past two
decades and now blocks tens of thousands of websites deemed inimical to the Communist
Partys narrative and control, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and even Instagram
(Denyer). This has blocked the travel of information and news and de-globalizes internet users
within the Chineses borders, shielding them from western viewpoints such as freedom of
speech. Many of these western views goes against the Communist Partys ideologies resulting in
the censorship system. The effects of the wall can also be felt around the world which can cause
a negative effect on the business market: The American Chamber of Commerce in China says
that 4 out of 5 of its member companies report a negative impact on their business from Internet
censorship (Denyer). This censorship is not only building a wall of ideas, but is also creating a
wall in physical trade. Many companies have tried entering China, but have subsequently either
withdrawn their presence from the country, like Google, or they are attempting to get their
websites uncensored, such as in the case with Facebook. These websites represent the significant
economic effects censorship has on the world; preventing companies from expanding their
market shares and preventing users from viewing the oodles of ideas and information shared on
those respective sites.
Based on the sources discussed throughout this essay, I created a multiple-choice survey
with questions asking about various topics regarding censorship within China and the United
States. The survey was distributed online via social media and other means and was taken by

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fifty internet users varying in age. Some questions surveyed the knowledge of the internet users
on fact-based knowledge related to the topic of censorship in China and the United States, while
others were more opinion based. Demographics were also collected. 96% of participants reported
they were United States Citizens and White. 6% of participants said they had traveled to China
with no participants reporting they live in China.
The results of my survey have shown that outside of the firewall, it is relatively common
knowledge that China censors the internet. When the participants were given the option to
describe the Chinese internet, 78% stated that the Chinese Government censors the internet,
14% said there is no difference in the internet between China and the United States, and 8%
said China has the most advanced internet in the world. One thing to note about this data is
that people could interpret China having the most advanced internet in the world because of their
complicated censorship technology. This demonstrates that outside of China, it is not new
information that censorship exists most likely from hearing and or seeing the negative effects it
can have globally. An interesting point to be made is that 48% of participants stated that the
United States government censors. 46% of participants said The United States Government
censors with our knowledge, but only 6% stated that the government doesnt censor at all.
Although many western countries are built upon the foundation of human rights and freedom of
speech, a large population believes that the government is not fully transparent with these
fundamentals, therefore going against the constitution. However, with this said, 54% of
participants said censorship is ok when used to protect a specific audience, such as mature
content, 10% said censorship was okay to keep peace in a country, and 36% said that
censorship is not okay under any circumstances. This 54% of people that believe censorship is
okay to protect a specific audience may have a relation to the 46% of participants that said that

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said the United States government censors with our knowledge; to protect against young
children. From this, it can be concluded most internet users feel censorship is wrong unless those
who are censoring are transparent with what they are censoring and the reasons why. An example
of this would be to protect certain audiences, like young children. For this reason, ratings are put
into place and why the United States Government mandates that television and radio stations are
required to self-censor what they broadcast, like swears, nudity, or excessive violence.
In a similar, but more extreme way, China requires online sources to self-censor. Paul
Wiseman published an article for ABC News titled Cracking the 'Great Firewall' of China's Web
Censorship while he was working for USA Today. He is currently working for the Associated
Press. In his article, he extends the thoughts and ideas of Denyers, but goes into how the
Chinese government has used its power to control companies, describing how many companies
are required to self-censor under the command of the Chinese government. After a few years of
being in the Chinese internet market, Google has shut down its Chinese version of the search
engine. The effects of self-censorship can continue to be seen today. If Tiananmen Square is
Googled in English, photos of the 1989 protests appear with in the services image search, as can
be seen in Figure 1. If the same search term query is entered in Chinese, only tourist photos will
appear, as show in Figure 2. This censorship method looks at what language is entered,
associates it with the country of origin and gives different results, this was most likely put in
because of the Chinese Governments requirements. However, this is not a very ethical move that
Google was mandated to do, as it distorts the reality and history of the location, preventing
people from learning about such tragedies.

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Figure 1 Google search results of the term

Tiananmen Square when entered in English.

Figure 2 Google search results of the term

Tiananmen Square entered in Chinese.

The reasons behind the decision for Google to withdraw are discussed in depth within an
article published in the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom titled Google Shuts China Site in
Dispute Over Censorship. This article goes into more specifics and further builds upon what has
been discussed with Wisemans and Denyers articles and what led to the shut down on March
22, 2010. After this date, users searches are redirected to the Googles uncensored Hong Kong
version, however, the government can block this completely. The major motivation for the
shutdown was due to discrepancies between Google and the Chinese government. A Chinese
official stated that: Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese
market by stopping filtering its searching service ("Google Shuts China Site in Dispute Over
Censorship"). Google decided to make this decision as the mandated self-censorship conflicted
with their ethics as they are a United States company. A similar trend is also highlighted in my
surveys, discussed earlier. The moral battle of censorship is not only fought by corporations, but
it is also fought by individuals and by governments (such as the United States) whose foundation
is built upon the that of human rights, and freedom of speech.
In his article, Wiseman also discusses how people living outside of China have been
creating programs that are designed to bypass the governments censorship and give those behind
the firewall the right to access any information they desire and continue globalizing the world.
These individuals have been dubbed hacktivists. When Wiseman was interviewing one of these
so called hacktivists, the hacktivist told a story about how three men broke into his home and
stole two of his computers after restraining and gagging him. He stated, I know it wasnt a
simple robbery (Wiseman). His story suggests that the Chinese government sent folks to his
home to prevent him from creating a bypass in the wall. It is so important to the Chinese
Government that their wall remains intact, they are willing to send men to this gentlemens

house, something that would be considered unconstitutional in the United States. However, it is
also dangerous for those using the tools inside of China, where they run the chances of being
jailed. 56% percent of my survey participants said that they would illegally try and bypass
government censorship, if they knew about it. They felt that their freedom and human rights were
more important. Reinforcing that countries should not censor information like China, as people
consider it against their freedoms and human rights.
The idea of creating tools to bypass the internet censorship does not end with the
hacktivists. Denyer writes about how there are deliberate loop holes in the wall which allow
corporations and government officials to bypass the filtering using VPN networks also known as
Virtual Private Networks. This means, in China not everyone has the same equality on the
internet; some have more rights to information. External involvement exceeds the individual
level and deliberate loopholes as well. An article published in the Journal of Internet Computing
written by Marin Zacks discusses, a bill that was introduced by Representative Christopher Cox.
If passed, the bill would create an office under the United States government whose aims would
be to combat internet censorship around the world: [it] would authorize US$100 million over
two years to create an Office of Global Internet Freedom to fight foreign censorship (Zacks).
Although the bill does not specifically say that the offices focus would be on China, it can be
interpreted that China would be a major focus of the department. Additionally, countries such as
North Korea, who do not have access at all would also be a focus of the office. The bill would
only target censorship that is blocking human rights and would not interfere with the protection
of minors or national security. Many questions arise around this morally based topic, such as
whether the US government should get involved. One of the reasons Google withdrew their
presence was because of a moral decision. However, the Chinese Official that was quoted in the

Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom earlier in this paper, stated that this was a corporate decision
which did not necessarily reflect the views of the United States government. Therefore, it did not
influence political relations between the two countries. The same cannot be said for this bill, so
precautions must be taken. This bill represents the importance that the United States imparts on
human rights and freedoms, writing a bill that will attempt to share these values and tear down a
barrier between the people and these ideologies.
Because of this bill, survey participants were asked if the United States government
should help people in China bypass the censorship put in place by the Chinese government. Only
14% supported the involvement, and 40% said the United States should stay out of it. The
remaining 46% of participants said that it was okay for individuals and companies to get
involved in supporting a bypass, but the government should remain out of it. People believe that
the United States should not help give people the right to access any information, but believe
what hacktivists are attempting to do is alright. One of the biggest causes for this response is
from concerns of harming political relations. Like in the case of Google, these hacktivists do not
have any connection with the United States Government and therefore will not affect
international policies, which could be the best solution to freeing the Chinese Internet.
In his article, Zacks also describes the complexity of Chinas censorship systems which
have been developed over the past two decades, resulting into one of the most advanced filtering
systems in the world. In the beginning, the system would prevent entire websites from being
accessed. However, as time progresses, the firewall has become and continues to become more
advanced. Research has revealed that the Chinese Government has moved away from blocking
entire websites, as they have done previously, and is now focusing on only blocking specific
content on those websites. By targeting and blocking more specific content, it can appear that the

government is censoring less, making it less apparent that something is interfering with the
connection to the outside world. This does restore some freedoms by allowing access to some
information on sites such as Facebook, but does not give users the freedom to access information
that the government does not want users to view. Additionally, allows for easier trade and
communications between countries which could increase economic growth and makes China
more globalized. It is important to restate that the Chinese Governments goal is not to
completely block the internet (like North Korea), but to only block certain topics deemed
harmful to the communist party. The Chinese Government has been encouraging the use of the
internet to prevent the negative effects on globalization and the economy.
Censorship is not something that was a side effect of the internet being introduced to
China. China has been using its power to censor information such as television and other
communication outlets, like news outlets. The Australian Broadcasting Company produced a
documentary titled: Tiananmen: Australia's Witnesses, which shares the stories of several
Australian Embassy workers, living in China during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The
film discusses the important role that those individuals played in communicating the news of the
incident. All television broadcasts were jammed by the Chinese Government along with satellite
connections. To get the videos and photos of the protests out of the country they had to
physically smuggle the tapes and images. They would take the tapes, hide them in their clothes
and hand them off to people within the airport and ask them to take them to the country they
were traveling to, outside China. They would then hand them off to a news agency there. When
surveyed, 62% of participants said that they have heard of the Tiananmen Square Protests of
1989, learning about them in school, online, or in another location. However, as previously
discussed, the government to this day blocks any information on the protests to reach internet

users within the country. The Chinese government is preventing its citizens from learning about
the countrys history. Citizens should have a right to know about this, however, the government
is afraid this will spark a revolution and the will fall from power.
Although bypassing the censorship in China requires the use of illegal methods, such as
loop holes, there are some other methods. Paul Mozur is an Asia Tech Correspondent for The
New York Times and attended Dartmouth College. In his article, Seeking Access to Facebook in
China, Zuckerberg Courts Risks, he describes how Zuckerberg is attempting a smooth, friendly
approach when it comes to government officials; courting them. He is hoping that creating
positive relationships with government officials will allow his company to enter the Chinese
market place, potentially allowing millions of individuals to join the website, thereby expanding
the company. Currently Facebook is blocked in China. The main reason it is probably blocked is
due to the easy sharing capabilities of the website. Many protests have been organized using the
platform, something the government is afraid will lead to the loss of their power. There may also
be additional motivation to not allow Facebook into the Chinese market place. By blocking the
website, it gives Chinese born companies, such as QQ and WeChat who would be competitors of
Facebook, to blossom. Potentially increasing the position China holds within the global
economy. Both companies are heavily monitored and censored by the Chinese Government, and
abide by the self-censorship rules.
China has the largest population in the world and the largest number of internet users
globally. However, the Chinese Government has developed one of the most advanced censorship
systems to go along side this. There now exists a virtual wall in communication between Chinese
internet users and the rest of the world. The survey concluded that internet users feel being able
to access information freely on the internet is a human right. Therefore, the type of censorship

employed by the Chinese Government restricts users from freely accessing information and takes
away human rights. Because of this, several organizations and individuals have or have discussed
taking a stand against internet censorship which have included both Google and the United States
Government. This censorship has restricted globalization and has had a negative effect on the
global economy. Nontransparent censorship should not be employed by any government, as it
can negatively affect the economy, the globalized world and is a human right. If governments
listen to their people and change their governing measures as appropriately, they shouldnt feel
censorship is needed.

Works Cited
Denyer, Simon. China's Scary Lesson to the World: Censoring the Internet Works. The
Washington Post, 23 May 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinasscary-lesson-to-the-world-censoring-the-internet-works/2016/05/23/413afe78-fff3-11e58bb1-f124a43f84dc_story.html. Accessed 20 November 2016.
"Google Shuts China Site in Dispute Over Censorship." Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, vol.
59, no. 3, May 2010, pp. 101-102. ProQuest,
search.proquest.com.ezproxy.rit.edu/docview/356888583?accountid=108.
Mozur, Paul. "Seeking Access to Facebook in China, Zuckerberg Courts Risks." New York Times,
Mar 20 2016, ProQuest, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.rit.edu/docview/1774434454?
accountid=108.
Tiananmen: Australia's Witnesses. Films on Demand, Films Media Group, 2014,
fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=78909&xtid=58370. Accessed 20 November
2016.
Wiseman, Paul. Cracking the 'Great Firewall' of China's Web Censorship. ABC News,
abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4707107&page=1. Accessed 20 November 2016.
Zacks, Martin. U.S. Plans Office to Fight Internet Censorship. IEE Internet Computing, vol. 6,
no. 6,10 Dec. 2002, pp. 8-9. IEEE Xplore, ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1067730/.