Forbidden City Enclosed by the Great Firewall: The Law and Power of Internet Filtering in China

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, and Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2012

27 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2012

See all articles by Jyh-An Lee

Jyh-An Lee

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law

Ching-Yi Liu

National Taiwan University

Date Written: March 7, 2012

Abstract

China’s Internet filtering and censorship regime has received considerable global attention. The Chinese government has successfully regulated access to Internet content at the national level through technical means. Although some researchers optimistically viewed the Internet as a liberating force in China’s democratic development, the Chinese government has actually been using network technologies to control online information and grafting its own ideology to the Net. Digital technologies have become the government’s tool to tamp down political threats. The rise of the Chinese model of Internet control prompts many interesting questions associated with Internet law scholarship. This Article uses Lawrence Lessig’s pronouncement “code is law” as a lens for understanding the Internet filtering system in China. Through the application of Lessig’s theory to the great firewall of China, we aim to illustrate the theory’s new implications and the government’s policy options in cyberspace.

Keywords: Internet filtering, great firewall, Internet censorship, ISP, IXP, code-is-law

Suggested Citation

Lee, Jyh-An and Liu, Ching-Yi, Forbidden City Enclosed by the Great Firewall: The Law and Power of Internet Filtering in China (March 7, 2012). Minnesota Journal of Law, Science, and Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2035788

Jyh-An Lee (Contact Author)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) - Faculty of Law ( email )

6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
Shatin, New Territories
Hong Kong

Ching-Yi Liu

National Taiwan University ( email )

1 Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road
Taipei 106, 106
Taiwan

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