China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe<br />Beijing had long been content to block foreign internet companies and police the homegrown alternatives<br />that sprouted up to take their place, but it is now directly pressuring individuals or requesting that companies cooperate with its online censorship efforts.<br />Mr. Mei called for a crackdown on tweets that “defame the party, Chinese leaders, and related national strategies.”<br />Sometimes, Chinese people also push foreign companies to censor themselves in the country, nurtured by sentiments on China’s propaganda channels.<br />Mr. Zhang’s case is one of the first-known examples of Chinese authorities using conversations from a non-Chinese chat app as evidence — and it sends a warning to those on the American platform, which is encrypted,<br />that they could also be held accountable for what’s said there.<br />“The fact that China is punishing people for critical content published outside China<br />to audiences not based in China is of course a concern,” said Mr. Rosenzweig<br />“I personally am not sure what the solution is for these companies,” said Mr. Rosenzweig.<br />As Mr. Xi asserts himself and the primacy of Chinese geopolitical power, China has also<br />become more comfortable projecting Mr. Xi’s vision of a tightly controlled internet.<br />Now, it is increasingly going beyond its own online realms to police what people and companies are saying about it all over the world.<br />For years, China has exerted digital control with a system of internet filters known<br />as the Great Firewall, which allows authorities to limit what people see online.
