Access to the internet was shut down for over ten months in Xinjiang. Tom Thai/Flickr. Some rights reserved.China has been eager to claim its “internet sovereignty” since the eighteenth party congress, with internet control naturally topping the central leadership’s agenda. The recently released cyber security law draft, while aiming to codify the previously scattered internet regulation policies and solidify the Cyberspace Administration’s status as the leading internet governing body, has demonstrated the country’s determination to take a more effective and concentrated approach to make cyberspace a “safe and harmonious” territory.
The draft legalises China’s use of the 'Great Firewall' to deny domestic citizens’ access to information the authorities deem forbidden by laws and regulations. Article 43 of the draft states that the Cyberspace Administration and relevant departments shall notify relevant organisations to adopt technological and other necessary measures to block the transmission of information that is prohibited by Chinese laws and regulations.
The draft also rationalises the internet shutdown tactics that were previously deployed during the Xinjiang riot in 2009. Article 50 of the draft promulgates the notion that in order to fulfil the need to protect national security and social public order and respond to major social security incidents, the State Council, or the governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities with approval by the State Council, may take temporary measures concerning internet communication in certain regions, such as restricting it.
