China’s hue & cry over apps ban contradict its own rule of internet censorship

New Delhi: India’s decision to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including ByteDance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat, may have become a topic trending on social media apps in China but Beijing’s own record with globally popular social media platforms are appalling with tight censorship that disallows own citizens to access information available worldwide.

China blocked Facebook besides Twitter and Google services in 2009 following riots in Xinjiang. China has most extensive and sophisticated censorship regimes in the world. Described as the "Great Firewall," a number of methods are employed to control online content, including website blocking and keyword filtering, censoring social media, and arresting activists.

Chinese government agencies have absolute authority over the internet in China. The Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Public Security in 2014 established the Cyberspace Administration of China as the main body for internet censorship in China.


The Great Firewall prevents users from accessing foreign news sites such as the BBC, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Facebook has billions monthly active users worldwide, with primarily no footprint in China.That’s because Facebook is banned in China. The Chinese government controls content it deems is not in the interest of the state. The list is long.