牆國誌：中國如何控制網路

by James Griffiths, 李屹 (譯者)

監視審查，無孔不入
中國防火長城如何戕害全球網際網路

　　中國如何打造出一個受其控制、扭曲變形版本的網際網路？
　　網路理當是促進民主和自由的一股力量，這樣的願景怎麼就失落了？
　　審查機制未露絲毫敗象，反倒步步進逼，又是怎麼一回事？

　　中國的防火長城是世界上最龐大的線上審查機制，打從網際網路傳入中國，政府便持續致力於擴張審查範圍，不出數年，當局便在思科等矽谷菁英的協助下打造出防火長城，監控與過濾國內所有線上活動，並用以對付法輪功、圖博人、維吾爾族和異議人士。

　　全球各地的反審查人士透過各種翻牆軟體和VPN大戰審查機器，然而有能力與管道「翻牆」的中國用戶仍屬少數，且時至今日，一批新崛起的中國科技巨擘已發展出完整的替代服務，各種國外熱門網站都有了中國式的替代品。這些替代品積極配合政府的審查制度，甚至搶在政府前頭審查，並且為此獲利甚鉅。Google、Yahoo和Facebook等科技巨頭為了進入中國市場，皆曾嘗試配合中國審查制度以搶分一杯羹，然而最後全都失敗收場。

　　近十年來，中國開始嘗試把防火長城的影響範圍擴展到其國界之外。中國駭客透過網路釣魚郵件和惡意程式入侵目標的電腦或伺服器，受害對象包括流亡圖博人、外交官、軍官、議員、記者、外國企業，甚至是美國的政府單位；中國的外交代表則逐步滲透聯合國和其他國際組織，一點一滴削弱開放的網際網路所受到的國際保護；此外，中國也積極將強化長城的科技輸出到其他國家，例如俄羅斯和非洲大陸上所有中國的盟友。

　　極權國家維穩優先，科技巨擘利潤至上，網路理當是促進民主和自由的一股力量，如今卻在這兩者的雙重夾殺下，失落了願景。我們究竟何以走到這一步？如今又該何去何從？

　　CNN記者詹姆斯．格里菲斯耗費數年進行調查，逐步拼湊出中國防火長城的發展歷程與運作機制。他將在本書中說明，中國何以打造出這部審查機器，而防火長城的觸手又是如何伸出中國，進而影響了全世界每個人的生活；以及，如果我們想保護網路的自由、開放、民主與透明，又能夠怎麼做。

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Politics, Technology, History, Business, Journalism

400 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2019

Reviews

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

S/o to the Chiayi Public library for having this book. It is written by a Welsh author who is now a journalist in Hong Kong. More thoughts to come.

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A distinctly uncomfortable read and rightfully so. China has become an influencing state to business entities around the globe in institutionalizing Internet filters. With corporations already tailoring our search results based on ad revenues, dissident voices and biases, our consumption to information is already filtered enough. But with China's way of operation, its not just tailoring information that's provided to the consumer but also identifying the consumer in both private and public places. There is not a lot of opportunity to be anonymous in Chinese online community given how personal identity is tied to a lot of media and other popular consumer sites.

Griffiths is on the ground as these policies gets rolled out (out of Hong-Kong) and technology takes care of the rest. It sounds very dystopian and many would wonder if these technologies exists or not. They do.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Wall of Fire

This was a spectacular book.

Truly eye opening.

I would highly recommend reading this for those interested in international technology, policy, and Internet.

Very fascinating and scary at times.

Griffiths is an excellent journalist.

4.8/5

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my several trips to China, and currently living in China, I have always felt extreme frustration about the internet situation here. In South Korea, the internet is blazingly fast and all the apps on my phone work. In China, the "internet" seems to trickle and my entire phone (it's a Google powered Android) seems unresponsive. A VPN does breathe some life back into apps, but for many of them it is but a half-life. Seeing as my new job has brought me here, I sought to understand the history and the reasons for the censorship/regulations that were affecting my daily life.

This book was a great choice for this task and I'm glad I read it. The Chinese internet is an extremely complex phenomenon and understanding better how it works will hopefully lead to less frustration on my part in the future. The author did his research well and narrates the tale from the origins of the internet itself up until events that happened mere months ago. He also talks about censorship and regulation in other countries and among other organizations as well; it's not all about China, but it often comes back to China (China exporting their Great Firewall to Russia and several African nations). The topics broached in this book about whose responsibility internet regulation is, if we're moving towards a global internet or an international internet, and questions of cyber-sovereignty are still in full development and will be at center stage in any conversations about the future of the World Wide Web. Freedom of speech activists absolutely have their work cut out for them.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book is scary but accurate and enlightening. It documents the history of the internet in China, the contemporaneous development of the most sophisticated system of online censorship and social control and, recently, the export of this system to Russia and other authoritarian governments. It is written by a journalist based in Hong Kong in an accessible, entertaining style. But, when it does reference technical details, it does so accurately. I know this because I happen to be the network software engineer who wrote the the specialized language which allows the device sold by F5 Networks to conditionally block, redirect or alter network traffic passing through its Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). This device along with the equivalent device sold by Cisco was originally used to construct the Great Firewall. What I should have known but didn't was that Huawei devices are now just as capable those of F5 and Cisco. I also didn't realize that the Chinese equivalent of the US NSA can and has commandeered the vast server resources of the big three BAT companies as a weapon.

[Juno · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book discussed how strict censorship has been widely adopted by authoritarian governments to oppress and destroy civil society. The Internet we have today is very different from what it used to look like 10 years ago before the rise of tech giants. On one hand, leaving the Internet totally free and unregulated would invite tech giants who have only the interest of the their investors in mind to occupy and control this online world; on the other hand, going to the extreme of Chinese way to let the country decide what is allowed to appear would be a great threat to the freedom of speech. The users of the Internet must be aware of their stake and lobby for greater role in shaping the future landscape of the net.

This author has good insights of how the internet affected social movements.

[Jonathan Mayweather · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, deep dive into the internet and human rights in China and how the government under Xi is trying to export their philosophy and technology across the world. Would recommend.

[Денис Агафонов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Проблема этой книги в феноменологическом способе подаче материала, который так любят либеральные СМИ: автор рассказывает нам различные сильно эмоциональные истории о борьбе за свободу интернета и за свободу вообще. Читатель закономерно сопереживает маленьким, но сильным духом, героям, пострадавшим от цензуры и репрессий. Но диалектическое развитие проблемы свободы и цензуры интернета ускользает. И несмотря на то, что автор мельком обрисовывает, как позицию официального Китая, так и лицемерие западных борцов за демократию, у не скептически настроенного читателя в конце, скорее всего, останутся в голове лишь ущемленные в правах уйгуры и тибетцы.

В книге много оценочных суждений автора, и нужно быть внимательным, чтобы не перепутать его политическую позицию с историческими фактами. Несколько примеров:
- современный мир не сможет отказаться от Гугл, но Китай должен отказаться от главенства коммунистической партии,
- в 18 веке Китай бы гораздо меньшим по территории и потому называть желание его провинций отделиться сепаратизмом - неправильно,
- руководство гугл ходит на ковер в сенат США, но именно китайские айти компании сотрудничают с государством,
- времена японской оккупации Китая - это времена индустриализации, которой КПК положила конец и вогнала Китай в нищету,
- автор не видит проблемы в призывах китайских оппозиционеров к прямой военной интервенции США в Китай. и др.

У автора типичное либеральное отношение к свободе слова. У него есть четкая позиция неприятия цензуры в тоталитарных и авторитарных режимах. Но вполне гибкое отношение к цензуре в демократическом обществе. Он рассуждает о том, что солидарность важнее истины... что блокировка должна происходить в соответствии с морально-нравственными законами, а не желанием партии... Про бабки он вообще молчит!
Судя по его критике как либертарианской утопии свободы информации, так и самостоятельности айти гигантов, идеал для автора - это интернет, подконтрольный партии, но той партии, что была выбрана демократическим путем.

Несмотря на все это, книга не дает оптимистичного прогноза, что добро победит, а зло будет повержено. А дает много информации для размышления, что уже плюс.

[已注销 · Rating 4 out of 5]

学习了

[Dеnnis]

Осенью 2019-го российское медиапространство всколыхнули протесты против строительства мусорного полигона в Шиесе, отдаленном углу Архангельской области. Дабы не сеять паники, власти отрубили местное население от интернета и электричества. Из Москвы блокада выглядела дико, но прецеденты таких действий были, причем особым размахом отличается Китай, в 2009-м, например, оставивший из-за беспорядков без интернета, sms и междугородней телефонной связи 20 млн уйгур почти на год. Операция отключения длилась пару минут и потребовала усилий всего горстки инженеров из China Telecom и China Unicom. Один блогер пошутил, что «уйгуры добились-таки отделения. Отделения от интернета».

Как видим, «передовой» китайский опыт мы освоили спустя 10 лет. Впрочем, кое-какие наработки в этой области у нас уже имеются, например фабрики троллей и локализация серверов иностранных компаний, работающих с данными россиян. Ноу-хау с изоляцией проблемных мест Китай экспортирует: в 2016-м для раскоординации работы оппозиции на президентских выборах в Уганде также на несколько дней были созданы проблемы с интернетом, правда, уже в масштабах всей страны, что нанесло урон бизнесу. Но, как, наверное, известно правителю страны с 1986 года Йовери Мусевени, «не разбив яиц, омлет не сделаешь».

«Великий китайский файрволл» — так неофициально называют суверенный интернет КНР. Все новейшие методы и технологии контроля и ограничений в Сети сейчас, пожалуй, куются именно там. А затем экспортируются в другие страны, где режимы не желают иметь сетевую вольницу. Кстати, вы знаете, что в 2015 году РФ и КНР подписали Пакт о ненападении в интернете? Так вот, он в частности подразумевает и «обмен опытом». Мы видим пока лишь первые цветочки ручного управления и контроля в интернете, не повредит познакомиться и с ягодками.

Основными направлениями политики Китая в области интернета являются легитимизация и распространение модели «суверенных» интернетов и борьба со всевозможными формами общественной консолидации вне рамок, приветствуемых партией, или, иными словами, разрушение любых произвольных общественных связей. Если по первому направлению ведется достаточно деликатная, но настойчивая работа в международных организациях и комитетах по стандартизации (огромная часть ее остается в тени), то внутри страны власти действуют решительно.

Слежка и цензура в китайском интернете превосходят наши фантазии. WeChat, Weibo, QQ — микроблоги и соцсети, в которых сидят китайцы, — тщательно следят за списком «запретных слов», который все время обновляется. Причем нести крамолу необязательно публично — фильтруется даже личная переписка. Что сейчас считается неблагонадежным, никто точно сказать не может, поэтому широко распространена самоцензура. Например, одними из первых забаненных сайтов были странички маоистов. Несознательных блогеров могут вызвать на ковер и заставить каяться в эфире национального телевидения. Уехавшим за границу и строчащим оттуда «очернителям» угрожают расправой над родственниками в Китае. В ключевых высокотехнологичных компаниях созданы парткомы, строго следящие за идеологией. В одном поисковике Baidu трудится более 3600 членов партии. Все спонтанные попытки самоорганизоваться по любому поводу — от помощи жертвам землетрясения до бойкота филиппинских товаров квасными патриотами — дискредитируются и разрушаются.

Вообще, что отличает действия Китая в Сети, это беспрестанные попытки контроля за всем, что говорится и пишется не так о КНР по всему миру. Для этого устраиваются DDоS-атаки, травля троллями, а для иностранных юрлиц существует отдельный комплекс мер. Сеть отелей Marriott и ряд авиакомпаний едва не вышвырнули из страны за использование в выпадающем перечне мест Гонконга, Макао и Тайваня без указания их принадлежности к КНР, а Mercedes пришлось извиняться за использование в своем Instagram мотивационной цитаты из далай-ламы. За ним самим и его сторонниками идет постоянная слежка, их компьютеры и устройства заражаются шпионскими программами и вирусами.

Делает ли «Великий файрволл» китайские интернет-компании менее успешными на глобальном рынке? Вряд ли. По крайней мере текущий феноменальный успех соцсети TikTok, международной адаптации местной Douyin, говорит в пользу этого. Маловероятно также, что и Alibaba, Baidu и WeChat добились бы крупных успехов, не находясь они в тепличных условиях без Amazon, Google и Facebook.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible read, and recommend to everyone and anyone. While this is a book about the internet and technology, it is most importantly about human rights. China uses the internet primarily as a weapon and a means of mass control. This observation does not come as a surprise to many, but the sophistication of their methods, the affects it has had on collectives and individuals, and the implications for the future detailed in this book ought to be absolutely shocking.

Their internet and their methods of censorship are incredible, second to none, and it is improving all the time. It is impressive what they have achieved and their effectiveness, and that is awful. This is not done with the welfare of their people in mind, but for supreme authority and the elimination of any dissent. Any criticisms from their citizens can and do end in many instances of imprisonment and torture. Not as much so, but death as well.

The crazy thing is how Russia's operations on the internet have garnered almost undivided attention, because they learn from and are far out-shadowed by China in this field. What they have is amateur in comparison, and given the power they have exerted makes that no small statement. It is not just a problem with China, they are extending their capabilities to any sympathetic government that has the capacity for implementation. And all along the way major tech companies are giving up the money and resources to strengthen these goals.

This is something that can only become worse and more pervasive with time. Read it even if this review is not compelling or lacking in eloquence, if it is then it is just a disservice to what Griffiths has achieved with this book.

[Cathal McGuinness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astoundingly well researched and authoritatively written. An endlessly fascinating insight into the machinations of Chinese state security and their grip on civil liberties, also serves as a highly cautionary tale for netizens worldwide. It's probably never been better or easier to become an authoritarian...

[Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally good, well-informed book. It would be better if it includes technical details of the GFW and how ordinary Chinese people see it.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little disorganized and perhaps a bit too alarmist, but still extremely interesting.

[Antonio Gallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chi ha paura di Internet? Due libri rispondono alla domanda. Questo da dietro la "muraglia" cinese ed un altro dallo "smartphone" indiano. Leggete il post sul mio blog https://bit.ly/2FWqqOh

Sono in molti ad avere paura della Rete, altrimenti detta Internet, qualcosa di più di una semplice rete. Una “rete di reti”, ossia di un sistema di comunicazione tra reti e sistemi eterogenei, oltre che geograficamente distribuiti.

Se le cose stanno così, non può essere diverso che lo siano anche le reazioni che ognuno di noi, singoli esseri umani, ha nei suoi confronti. Così reagiscono gli Stati, le loro culture ed istituzioni, ad una “struttura” mai vista prima su questo pianeta. Da nord a sud, da est ad ovest, si susseguono le paure e gli entusiasmi per qualcosa che condiziona sempre di più la nostra esistenza.

Ho avuto modo di leggere lunghi estratti di due libri usciti di recente su questo argomento. Una buona occasione per confrontare quello che credo di avere imparato a distanza ormai di quasi una trentina di anni che sono diventato digitale.

Entrambi gli autori prendono in esame due civiltà completamente diverse da quella occidentale ed europea alla quale appartiene anche il sottoscritto: quella cinese e quella indiana. Posso dire a questo proposito che l’unica cosa che unisce queste due civiltà è quella di farci capire quanto poco sappiamo sia dell’una che dell’altra, e non solo per quanto riguarda l’esperienza digitale.

James Griffith, nel suo libro intitolato non a caso La Grande Muraglia della Cina racconta la storia di oltre venti anni durante i quali le autorità cinesi, lentamente ma decisamente, hanno attuato quella dottrina chiamata “cyber-sovranità”. Consolidata l’idea che i dati sono una risorsa economica e strategica cruciale, le autorità cinesi si sentono in diritto di realizzare in chiave moderna e digitale quello che fu fatto secoli fa da essi stessi con la “Grande Muraglia”: creare una nuova “muraglia” che oggi diventa difesa e barriera con diverse e identiche conseguenze, volutamente.

Quando l’ex presidente americano Bill Clinton ricevette nel 2000 una delegazione di operatori commerciali cinesi, parlando a proposito della novità chiamata Internet, disse loro che tentare di difendersi da questa nuova realtà sarebbe stato come voler inchiodare la gelatina ad un muro. Una cosa impossibile e augurò loro buona fortuna. Ma i Cinesi non avevano bisogno di fortuna ma di tempo. Infatti, a distanza di una ventina di anni oggi, si può dire che sono riusciti a controllare il “web”.

Lo hanno fatto e lo fanno in maniera abbastanza semplice, anche con la complicità, in alcuni casi, degli stessi occidentali. Mediante ispezioni di “profondità digitale” riescono a controllare quello che entra attraverso alcuni indirizzi IP. Effettuano sorveglianza praticando censura accettata anche dal colosso Google a fini commerciali.

Il controllo non si manifesta in maniera censoria, bensì filtrata, ritenendo responsabili i “provider” della diffusione di notizie non gradite: devono essere loro a decidere cosa far passare e cosa no. Insomma, una specie di autocensura. In alcuni punti cruciali di informazione digitale in città come Beijing, Shanghai e Guangzhou avviene il filtraggio.

Ma non si tratta soltanto di questo. Le autorità cinesi impiegano migliaia e migliaia di persone inondando infinite chat con una marea di frivolezze e banalità: fanno “spamming”. Le famose “fake news” condizionano così l’informazione politica e culturale di un certo valore. Un vero e proprio inquinamento delle menti questa “muraglia” digitale che impone un autoritarismo collettivo mentale, degno delle migliori dittature. Con buona pace di quello che noi chiamiamo libertà di informazione e formazione.


Contrariamente a quanto fanno i Cinesi, lo scrittore Ravi Agrawal con il suo libro “India connected” dimostra che, mentre in Cina Internet può essere se non pericolo, almeno un ostacolo per chi governa, in India si pensa esattamente in maniera opposta.

Il sottotitolo del suo libro lo afferma in maniera inequivocabile quando dice di voler dimostrare “come il cellulare stia trasformando le democrazie del mondo”. Il governo indiano ignora completamente la politica del governo cinese.

Già corrispondente della CNN, l’autore porta il lettore in un viaggio nel subcontinente indiano, attraversando sperduti villaggi e sterminate metropoli, cerca di dimostrare come le connessioni della Rete connettono anche uomini e cose. Una cifra sulla situazione digitale di questo grande Paese basta per avere l’idea del cambiamento che l’India ha subito.

Diciannove anni fa, nel 2000, erano 20 milioni gli Indiani connessi a Internet. Nel 2017 sono diventati ben 465 milioni, il che significa che ogni secondo tre cittadini scoprono la Rete. Il prossimo anno si valuta che saranno 700 milioni, un miliardo nel 2025.

Questi numeri lasciano facilmente immaginare il salto esistenziale di un popolo, una nazione, un governo. Nessun area umana, sociale, politica, culturale può uscire indenne da cambiamenti di questo genere. Dalla nascita, al matrimonio, sino al passaggio finale, l’arrivo dello smartphone per ogni cittadino indiano, ha significato l’utopia di un totale sconvolgimento di una società in cui ci sono vaste sacche di povertà, un sistema di caste, diseguaglianze di genere, ignoranza e analfabetismo, grande disparità sociale. A grandi opportunità sono succeduti comportamenti e trivialità di ogni tipo.

Nonostante i tentativi del governo di controllare la situazione sono nate forti tensioni. Ipernazionalismi contro terrorismi di vario tipo sembrano devastare in maniera irreversibile la più grande democrazia del mondo. L’autore scova e crea personaggi che illustrano condizioni di vita estrema, impregnate di un facile ottimismo digitale. Milioni di persone si sentono, con l’arrivo dello smartphone, liberati da un destino crudele, vedono in esso una possibile via di uscita e di cambiamento. Il 66% delle donne indiane non sa leggere e scrivere.

La diffusione di un tipo di cellulare economico, collegato alla Rete, ha spodestato la centralità del pc accelerando i cambiamenti, ma ha anche aumentato le tensioni, come abbiamo già visto. In alcuni casi ci sono situazioni simili a quelle che accadono in Cina, come ad esempio quella riguardante le “fake news” e i “vuoti digitali”, le interruzioni o la mancanza di connessione in molte aree dei due Paesi.

Se si vuole fare un confronto tra le due opposte, ma per certi versi simili situazioni tra questi due grandi Paesi, si può dire che ci sono somiglianze e contrasti. Li unisce una verità comune: la tecnologia nel suo impatto sulla realtà sociale di un territorio non ha mai effetti simili. Tutto dipende da chi gestisce i cambiamenti e prende le decisioni. Nemmeno noi Europei siamo indenni da queste tendenze.

Volendo tirare delle conclusioni e fare delle previsioni utili che riguardano non soltanto questi due grandi Paesi, si può dire che mentre i Cinesi cercano di cavalcare il loro “drago” tecnologico per dominarlo, gli Indiani sembra che vogliano cavalcarlo con fiducia, per guidarlo e indirizzarlo verso il cambiamento. A noi non resta che seguire la speranza indiana.

[Collin Lysford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the title fool you - this is more of a general history of internet censorship than a China-specific book. Of course, China features heavily as by far the greatest innovators in internet censorship, but this will take you all around the world as it steps through internet history. And the result is an extremely informative book! I knew vaguely that the Internet was founded with a techno-libertarian bent and centralized control has increased in recent years, but this goes way beyond that surface level of understanding to give you a blow-by-blow.

But this strength is also a bit of a weakness. Griffiths brings up tantalizing points about the impacts and motivations of censorship - how censors target solidarity above anything else, how online pornography is universally the way they open the door, etc. But then he'll repeatedly go back to talking about the technical history. I would have liked limiting the scope of the technical history a bit to give the sociological points more room to breathe. It would probably also help the somewhat matter-of-fact nature of the prose to explore a bit more of the "why" instead of a parade of facts.

Still, the facts that are paraded are interesting and relevant facts, so it's not like this book is a waste of your time. It may not live up to its full potential, but there's plenty in here worth digesting.

[Chentao · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat biased view, although it offers many solid evidential materials. Most of the interpretations are obviously very "Republican", or out of a "presumption of guilt". I would say the truth is somewhere in between, as always. One of the examples is the partiality of Falun Gong. It's obviously a cult (and way worse than Scientology) if anyone has common sense.

It also brings back a lot of personal memories of early days using Google, how it was banned, and how we find ways to overcome the firewall, etc.

As for the organizations among the Chapters, they are kind of loose. It could have been much better organized. It could have been a more attractive "story".

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

TL;DR: Excellent history, could use more evidence for the analysis portions. I would consider it essential reading for anyone working on internet censorship.

This book is the essential history of Chinese internet censorship. Even those already deeply immersed in this issue will no doubt learn something new, whether that's about key dissidents, Chinese theory of speech control, or the reasons for concern about an authoritarian presence at the ITU. It's also easy to parse ("easy to read") and occasionally ironic, though of course deeply distressing.

Where I believe it falls short is in the analysis. While the descriptions of motivations and skepticism feel sound, I struggle with the conclusions that are drawn. E.g. an internet not for profit: that's all well and good, but who will fund it? A lot of the platform innovation has come from the profit incentive, so how will we replace it? These ideas are thrown out without a lot of answers, and skirt the fact that the world is probably still much better off with XYZ internet companies than we were with just Gopher and blogs, though they have raised fresh difficulties. The other glaring gap for me is a conclusion that US government internet freedom are counter-productive. At the end it's buttressed by a statement of "as we have seen", but there is not a lot of evidence of an absence of US government pressure actually preventing censorship. Many countries, such as Eritrea or Turkmenistan, do not get press, NGO, or obvious government pressure around censorship (they aren't even in the Freedom of the Net report), but are nevertheless extremely repressive. The implication (I don't recall it being explicitly stated) that US government pressure generates domestic support for censorship action deserves more exploration.

I'm especially bothered by (or in denial about!) the last conclusion because as far as I'm aware, almost all internet freedom funding for free VPNs, new circumvention technologies, data publication, etc., comes from US government sources. It's all well and good to say that it's counter-productive, but what would the world be like without such efforts going forward? After all, China's efforts to expand internet censorship to Africa - as detailed in this book - are hardly independent actions by its corporations. If the Chinese are pushing their vision for a closed internet, why is the obvious response that western governments should sit back and say and do nothing? Is western support for internet freedom not dissuading at least some allies from implementing censorship controls? I would have liked (still would!) these questions to be addressed.

If you're looking for a motivational analysis of recent Chinese politics and repression, The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State is a must-read.

DISCLAIMER: I work on internet freedom at a large tech company, and know some of the people mentioned in this book.

[Pavel Annenkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Увлекательная история о том, как китайское государство стало полностью контролировать интернет. Пока читал, мы в стране прошли за несколько недель путь, который Китай прошел за годы и блокировки стали реальностью. Но многое еще видимо впереди. Об этом и стоит прочитать в этой книге, чтобы представить себе, как может быть устроен наш интернет через некоторое время.

Редкий случай, когда актуальность книги пропадает сразу после ее прочтения. Читал эту работу в феврале 2022 г.

ГЛАВНАЯ МЫСЛЬ КНИГИ:
- Если мощное государство захочет взять контроль над интернетом, то оно это точно сделает. Результат - это лишь вопрос времени.

ЗАЧЕМ ЧИТАТЬ ЭТУ КНИГУ?
- Чтобы понять какое будущее может быть у российского интернета.

МЫСЛИ И ВЫВОДЫ ИЗ КНИГИ:
- Цензура вездесуща и незаметна. Вы и не понимаете насколько ограничен ваш цифровой мир.

- Хороший тезис на вооружение государству - «в интернете тоже действуют наши законы».

- Поразительная особенность китайского интернета - это то, каким свободным он может показаться. Иногда можно даже усомниться, а так ли строга цензура в Китае.

- Есть два приоритетных направления цензуры:
1. Предотвращение коллективных действий.
2. Недопущение критики цензуры как таковой.

- Твиттеру хотели дать Премию Мира за вклад в арабские и блежневосточные революции)

- Большая компания всегда пойдёт на сделку с государством, чтобы сохранить свой бизнес и не потерять прибыль. Репутация и доверие бизнеса конечно пошатнутся, но все об этом скоро забудут.

ЧТО Я БУДУ ПРИМЕНЯТЬ:
Купил себе хороший VPN

ЕЩЕ НА ЭТУ ТЕМУ:
Уилл Дюрант «Уроки истории»

[Noralo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been working in the internet censorship space for a few months and wanted to understand 'The Great Firewall' better. This was an interesting book, but most people probably only need a couple articles to fill in their gaps. Not sure how many of these chapters grew out of articles because there were a few key players who were introduced several times throughout the book as though it was their first mention, but that was helpful for me anyway since I skimmed some parts more than others.

Despite the thorough look at how internet censorship in China came to be (and how it influenced other parts of the world, like Russia and Uganda), the conclusion felt hurried and deliberately obtuse - Griffiths says some form of regulation is needed but since he just spent a whole book explaining how national regulation on open internet is dangerous, he imagines some kind of utopic people's regulation... which is kind of how we got to China's form of repression in the first place. That irked me, but perhaps he himself just wanted the history without some sweeping conclusion about what the future could look like, and his publishers insisted. The history is worth exploring, in any case.

[Sergey Nikonorov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга пару лет висела в моем списке «к прочтению». Сейчас самое время прочитать ее, чтобы понять перспективы интернета в России. Я ожидал, что книга про технические детали, про законы Китая. Нет. Книга про судьбы, про сильных людей, про борьбу.

На примерах из жизни общественных активистов, лидеров известных технологических компаний, специалистов по безопастности = автор показывает современную историю Китая и то как возник, развивался и начал международную экспансию «Китайский интернет».

Что интересного в книге:
- роль Cisco в создании файрвола
- логика работы фильтрации и блокировок
- как WeChat упрощает и расширяет возможности слежки
- история Google в Китае
- как Китай помогает России и другим странам в создании «суверенных интернетов»
- суть внутренних конфликтов и недовольств граждан

Книга показывает, что происходит, когда тонкая грань между «оградить от шокирующего контента» и «свободой слова» пройдена. И наталкивает на мысль = скоро будет так же.

https://t.me/snknrvs

[Anatoly Bezrukov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ожидал, что будет больше конкретики, как именно устроен файрвол, как работает система всеобщего распознавания лиц, социального рейтинга, какие способы обхода блокировок существуют и насколько они распространены.
В общем-то, обо всём этом в книге говорится, но гораздо больший, чем хотелось бы лично мне, акцент сделан на оппозиционерах, на которых обрушивается китайская (а также российская и угандийская) цензура: на синьцзяньских уйгурах, на художниках-карикатуристах и последователей полурелигиозной секты Фалуньгун.
По большому счёту, это скорее даже плюс (получил от книги больше, чем ожидал), но, к сожалению, это наслаивается на немного дёрганную манеру повествования (сначала про одно, потом про другое, потом снова про первое и т.д.) и в результате хорошая и добротная работа оставляет по себе немножко смазанное впечатление.

[Zulugoat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, well-researched, entertaining and instructive, however it would benefit from a clearer structure. More fundamentally while the scope here is clearly Chinese censorship, the lack of discussion and/or awareness of the major issues affecting data privacy (and fake news among others) in Western countries makes many of the author's arguments sound hollow and/or biased.

Still a decent read.

[Keith Wheeles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding, thoughtful treatment of the tradeoffs inherent in information freedom vs. censorship. China leads the world in sophisticated censorship technology and practices, which they are exporting to authoritarian regimes. The book was written prior to the success of Tik Tok (which seems to me to be an outstanding move by China to infiltrate the US market in ways that - from a US point of view - are very concerning).

[Cathal Donnellan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started off strong, explaining the early rationale for censorship from a Chinese perspective as well as offering multiple justifications that could help you understand both sides of the divide.

Where James Griffiths falls short is towards the end; he meandered into Russia and Africa, without offering any predictions about where he saw the likely breaking points in the great firewall and where he saw it going.

[Carlos Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and researched, this book will guide you through the historic creation of the internet censorship in China and its evolution. It also touches upon the spread of this technology to other countries such as Russia and Uganda and leaves some notes on what to expect in the future. On a particular lense, it is a horror story.

[Andrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a strange one. It is extremely one-sided and laced with pro-western narrative. It does depict well the visible side of the story, yet fails to take into account internal cultural and historical nuances. So, I would recommend this book only to critical readers, those that see a statement and do the further research. Otherwise, this book will leave the wrong impression.

[Sebastian Song · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for all internet users. Know what's at stake for the future of the internet. The hypocrisy of the players and your role.

Singaporeans should read the text carefully for the haunting similarities we share with China.

[Michael Brant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a page turner. Despite being non-fiction. Made all more relevant by the fact that I read it in China, as I was constantly inconvenienced by the Great Firewall (stop trying to ruin my social like PRC - I need my Facebook).

[Paul Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended, great background on the Xinjiang situation. I was expecting more technical information, but perhaps that information isn't available due to the Chinese govt keeping it secret. The effort China puts into controlling their people should make everyone leery.