Everyone’s a Critic: China’s Cyber Policies and Practices Through the Eyes of Its Bloggers

Posted: 30 Nov 2011

Date Written: November 29, 2011

Abstract

One remarkable aspect of Chinese civilization has been its ability to absorb foreign influences and buffer them in a way that makes them uniquely Chinese. This cultural absorption has contributed greatly to China’s lauded 2,000 years of continuous history. Enter the internet, the ultimate influential medium. At first seen as foreign and potentially dangerous to the Chinese Communist Party’s rule, China has quickly adapted and used the Great Firewall to defend its people from undesirable influences and at the same time to allow many offensive cyber-attacks to originate from within its borders.

This paper examines China’s past, current and prospective cyber strategy as seen by and interpreted through its netizens, particularly bloggers. Through penetrating corporate servers to foreign government computers and individual foreign and domestic email accounts, China has secretly collected information and utilized it domestically and internationally to its advantage. And it has continued to limit free speech and freedom of information within its electronic borders by seeking to rein in its bloggers. What are China’s netizens saying about the government’s cyber activities? What are their predictions of future implications from China’s current cyber policy? How strong is China’s civilian cyber community in terms of people, resources and ideology? In short, to what extent is China’s online community contributing to or working at odds against China’s current international and domestic cyber security plan?

Suggested Citation

Bench, Jonathan, Everyone’s a Critic: China’s Cyber Policies and Practices Through the Eyes of Its Bloggers (November 29, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1966233

Jonathan Bench (Contact Author)

George Washington University ( email )

2121 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
United States

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