Beijing strengthens Great Firewall, private networks illegal

As of yesterday, private connections will need government approval to be able to access the internet. To date, the country has more than 730 million users.


 

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese government has launched an inspection campaign on unauthorized Internet connections, including virtual private networks (VPN). They allow users to bypass the system of " online censorship and surveillance" called "Golden Shied" (or "Great Firewall") by which the government controls the content available on the internet.

Yesterday, a notification of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that all the cables and the VPN services in the homeland must obtain government approval before being allowed to access network traffic. This decision basically outlaws most VPN service providers. Today, China over 730 million internet users.

The "cleansing" of illegal connections will last until 31 March 2018. So far, access to 135 of the 1,000 most visited websites in the world, among them Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are blocked.

"The Chinese market of internet connections - says the minister of industry and information technology - “has signs of disordered development that requires urgent regulation". According to the notification, the control (and censorship) of private Internet networks do not comply intends to "strengthen the management of information security in cyberspace".

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