The People’s Republic of China has historically been known as one of the top most censored countries across the globe. In fact, they censor anything that does not align with their values, which includes political dissent.
The Great Firewall of China is part of the country’s censorship regime that ensures they regulate the internet as well as ‘protect’ its people, or so they say. It’s an essential tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as it consists of a series of technologies as well as laws deployed by the Chinese government to not only censor but control the content available to all users in the country.
Anyone who has been to China will tell you that access to some foreign websites like YouTube and Google is either blocked entirely or intentionally slowed down.
So, what’s this Great Firewall of China; how does it work and how did it start?
The History of the Great Firewall of China
It was in the 1980s that this seed was sowed when the government of China decided to take measures to control the type of content that its people could access. However, it was until 1998 that the ruling party officially launched the Great Firewall project. So, it was clear that the internet must be part of the nation’s sovereignty and hence has to be governed by it. From their perspective, filtering content is entirely justified.
In fact, to the government of China, the internet is perceived as a source of political and social threats to their cultural values as well as ideology. Moreover, the regime has all along recognized the utility of the Internet in propelling economic growth.
The Major Objective of the Great Firewall of China
The primary objective of the Great Firewall of China is merely to control the flow of information that gets in and out of the country. Precisely, the goal is to clamp down mainly on political dissent, take control of the narrative as well as prevent its citizens from accessing content that might go against the nation’s policies.
That means that anything that portrays the nation negatively is immediately shut down; thanks to their mass surveillance – whereby any instances of dissent are detected immediately, silenced, and then removed from the web. That way, the country is able to maintain a robust ideological grip on its people.
How does the Great Firewall of China work?
The Great Firewall of China uses a variety of different techniques to censor content. Here are some of the top options:
1. URL Blocking
Also known as URL filtering is perhaps one of the most effective mechanisms used by the Great Firewall of China to block content on the internet. Here, the proxies scan a variety of characters that are used by web technologies in locating information on the servers (URLs). The proxies also scan the web page’s content as well as look for some target keywords to block.
Once those keywords match, the entire page is instantly blocked – the mechanism requires that the database is updated regularly with specific keywords to work efficiently.
2. DNS Poisoning
Usually, when you type a URL in the browser, it simply converts it into an IP address and uses the DNS to identify as well as serve relevant content. You can look at it like a massive directory of the entire website addresses.
The GFoC uses “fake” DNS servers which return invalid IP addresses when one tries to open certain sites – it’s a method of DNS hijacking that depends on targeting particular keywords. Therefore, whenever the DNS request matches the prohibited keyword, the firewall adds a fake DNS response immediately, hence preventing the user from accessing that site.
3. Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
These are attacks used by the government of China to “impersonate” as well as use root certificates from the country’s authorities instead of ones by the accrual providers. Normally, websites use SSL certificates in transmitting data – to ensure it’s encrypted.
These attacks allow the authorities to issue self-signed certificates that capture all communications as well as data with a specific site.
4. Direct VPN Blocking
The Chinese government has blocked all access to sites that provide means of bypassing GFW restrictions like VPNs and Tor – in fact, the government is vehemently against VPNs; VPNs are illegal and heavily restricted.
The country has blocked all Google services, which include Google Play Store which means Android users are unable to connect to a VPN or download the apps in first place. Perhaps, you’ll have to use other domestic app stores to download apps in China.
5. Active Probing
This is a technique that the authorities use in China to identify services that help users to circumvent the firewall. It works in that it probes any connection request to an outbound server, like one located outside of China. The GFoC inspects the nature of that request and when it detects the IP is part of the prohibited server network, it instantly cancels that request and then blocks the IP address.
Websites that the Great Firewall of China Blocks
One thing is for sure, China has blocked thousands of websites, but the most notable sites include:
- Bloomberg
- BBC
- CNN
- Gmail
- Dropbox
- Google services and apps
- Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook
- Snapchat
- Quora
- Spotify
- Twitch
- OneDrive
- New York Times
- YouTube
- Wikipedia
How to Bypass the Great Firewall of China
While the Great Firewall of China is sophisticated, it’s significant to note that it’s not entirely impenetrable. However, there are no absolutely reliable means that you can use to consistently bypass the GFoC. But the good news is that there are some techniques to get beyond the GFoC.
The best option is to use a VPN that helps to create some encrypted tunnel that doesn’t allow the authorities to see where the traffic goes.
Also, you can use the Tor privacy network to help you get past the GFoC. Shadow socks can also help bypass the wall.
Will the GFoC be Shut Down?
Will the Great Firewall of China ever fall? Well, that might not happen soon. In fact, the rest of the world has started to follow suit, and several elaborate systems for online invigilation are being developed every day.
However, it has led to more innovations and inventions on ways to bypass it. Therefore, as the Chinese government improves the dynamics of the firewall more ways of bypassing it are created. So, it looks like it is a ‘war’ that may never end.
Conclusion
The Great Firewall of China has seen a plethora of iterations over the years and it’s easy to say that it has become even more complex than you can imagine. It only looks to get stronger with reinforcements like Artificial Technology (AI) that improve its current security measures. However, more ways to get past it keeps coming, and that cyber war rages on; sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other. But if you want to get all the web pages, you need the best VPN software like ExpressVPN.
