China's internet censorship has deepened with recent reports revealing influential liberal bloggers and their private followers being targeted, interviewed, and harassed. This escalation in online discourse control has made it clear that consuming content deemed critical of the state is just as risky as creating said content.
Chinese university students who used VPNs to download Discord to discuss democracy, anarchism and communism have been detained and interrogated by the police. This is just one sign of the growing Chinese censorship regime, under which even private followers of unfavourable accounts and chats can be punished.
The Great Firewall has been a tool used to censor sensitive information. However, this expansion exceeds technological barriers and focuses on personal intimidation and fear. The Chinese government is sending a powerful message: do not form or engage in communities related to politics in private. This tactic of monitoring and interrogating citizens shows the outreach of Chinese censorship. It is insufficient to only filter out unwanted information; they must now suppress passive involvement in discussions that challenge the state's narrative. This has profound implications that create a chilling effect to discourage independent thinking and blur the line between the online and the real world.
I believe this is a pivotal advancement in China's excessive censorship efforts which expanded the effects of the Great Firewall and act as a stark reminder of the lengths authoritarian governments will go to control information.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/02/how-chinas-internet-police-went-from-targeting-bloggers-to-their-followers
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