Beijing authorities have initiated a clampdown on citizens utilising virtual private networks (VPNs), which enable users to evade the country's internet censorship apparatus by re-routing web traffic to servers elsewhere. The government has ordered three state telecommunications providers – China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom – to block access to VPNs. Chinese internet users have grown used to being blocked from certain websites, such as Facebook and the New York Times, as a result of the "Great Firewall" restricting what information is accessible. Individual use of VPNs will be prohibited by the Chinese authorities from Last year, according to Bloomberg.
Beijing authorities have initiated a clampdown on citizens utilising virtual private networks (VPNs), which enable users to evade the country's internet censorship apparatus by re-routing web traffic to servers elsewhere. The government has ordered three state telecommunications providers – China Unicom, China Mobile and China Telecom – to block access to VPNs. Chinese internet users have grown used to being blocked from certain websites, such as Facebook and the New York Times, as a result of the "Great Firewall" restricting what information is accessible. Individual use of VPNs will be prohibited by the Chinese authorities from 1 February next year, according to Bloomberg.