Mobile 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.
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.