China is stepping up efforts to block software that allows internet users to access banned websites during a top political meeting, a leading provider of firewall-breaking software said on Tuesday.
The Chinese government carries out the world’s most extensive censorship of the internet, with mainland web users unable to access everything from Google to news websites without using a virtual private network.
And as thousands of delegates gather for the annual “two-session” conference, VPN software increasingly struggles to evade censorship while outages compared to previous sensitive political events. are much more frequent.
“Currently, censorship has increased in China due to political meetings,” acknowledged a representative from Liechtenstein-based service Astrill, a popular VPN service provider for foreigners in China.
“Unfortunately, not all VPN protocols are functional at this time,” they said.
Using a VPN without government permission is illegal in China, as is using software to access blocked websites.
However, state media employees and diplomats are permitted to access prohibited websites such as X.
Security will be stepped up during both sessions, with police patrolling the streets with sniffer dogs and elderly volunteers wearing red armbands watching pedestrians for suspicious behavior.
Chinese social media giant Weibo is also quick to block sensitive topics.
A hashtag discussing the Chinese government’s decision to cancel traditional press conferences by the prime minister was quickly removed from search results.
Another comment about China’s economic woes that declared, “There is no future for middle-class children,” was also removed.
Domestic media are controlled by the state, and there is often widespread censorship of social media to suppress negative and critical reporting. Regulators have previously urged investors not to read foreign news reports about China.
President Xi Jinping has previously said that the Communist Party’s control of the internet has been “strengthened” and that it is important for the state to “govern cyberspace.”
Agence France-Presse
