In China, The Internet Expands and Censorship Follows

A story in yesterday's New York Times reports on the rapid expansion of the Internet in China, with five times more internet users today than in 2000. Alongside the internet boom are increasing efforts by the government to control access to information. The story references recent reports from the OpenNet Initiative -- a research partnership with the University of Toronto, the Berkman Center, and University of Cambridge. These reports map China's web filtering and are part of a series of studies that also highlight web filtering in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other areas. As Prof. Jonathan Zittrain explains, in China, "[t]he evidence points to the government not giving up on surveillance and filtering."