Great Firewall of China: 2017 VPN crackdown

Chinese players wanting to test their luck online during the Year of the Rooster may find it more difficult than ever.

Just before New Year celebrations began, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)  issued a notice signaling their intent to ramp up their crackdown on VPN usage.

China’s history of internet censorship is about as long at the history of the internet itself. Efforts to control what residents can and can not access online became known as Great Firewall of China (coined by Wired.com) back in 1997 and these efforts show no signs of letting up.

It was estimated that in 2016 up to 3% of China’s internet surfers used Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access blocked overseas websites. With more that 650 million internet users in China, that puts the number of VPN users at almost 20 million; or roughly the entire population of Australia!

That’s way to too many residents accessing the free internet for the Chinese regulator’s liking.

The recently issued notice says the country’s internet connectivity was showing, “signs of disordered development that require urgent regulation and governance”, and that the MIIT will continue their program to “clean up” the problem.

The program targeting VPNs, web proxies and the like (described collectively as “circumvention technologies”) started over a year ago. It is expected to be more severe this year.

Chinese players looking for the best ways to fight the crackdown may wish to start at the Circumvention Central website which lists the most currently effective VPN services in China. No doubt the MIIT is monitoring the list also!