American NGO, Freedom House, published the list, noting that human rights activists and religious minorities were most affected by China’s repression of the internet.

This year has seen a crackdown on live streaming, strict regulation of online gaming that hurts independent developers, the shuttering of Apple’s iTune store in China, as well as online content provider DisneyLife, a vaguely-worded law requiring foreign companies to register Chinese domains when doing online business in China, and banning gay relationships from online broadcast.

In 2015, the “Great Cannon” was used to mount cyber attacks on foreign websites, real name registration, strict WeChat guidelines, and a crackdown on netizens in the wake of the Tianjin explosions.

And let’s not forget that there has always been the “Great Firewall of China”, which censors any website deemed unsuitable by authorities.

The Freedom House report comes as China is set to host the 3rd World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. At last year’s conference, also held in Wuzhen, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for countries to maintain control over their own internet through “cyber-sovereignty”, as administered by “a multi-lateral democratic and transparent international Internet governance system”.

The post When It Comes To Internet Freedom, China Ranks Dead Last appeared first on The Nanfang.

As of June 2016, there were 710 million internet users in China, 21.3 million of which accessed the internet for the first time this year. Interestingly, 191 million internet users in China live in rural areas, accounting for almost a quarter of all users.

Nine out of ten of all of China’s internet users access the internet using their mobile phones, and apps are driving internet use. Drive sharing apps are very popular among Chinese internet users, totaling 159 million people. Apps for ordering take out food were used by 149 million mobile users.

Instant messaging apps are used by 92 percent of China’s mobile internet users. Other popular mobile apps include search programs, online payment systems and online music and video apps.

The post China Leads the World with 700 Million People Online appeared first on The Nanfang.

Internet news sites that have been shut down include Sohu’s “People (in) News”, “Radial”, and “Strike Today”; iFeng’s “Serious Report”; Sina’s “Geek News”; and NetEase’s “Echo” and “Signpost”.

The new sources are all said to have “severely violated” internet regulations by publishing news stories obtained through original sources that are all responsible for “negative effects”, reported Bloomberg. The ban means that all internet news outlets offering “current affairs news” can only publish news reports provided by government-controlled print or online media, and not provided by their own personnel.

“Current affairs news” is a sweeping term in China that encompasses all news and commentary related to politics, economics, military, foreign affairs and social issues, according to the draft version of China’s online information law.

Earlier this month, the CAC banned Chinese news from using social media as a source for news stories as a “campaign against fake news and the spreading of rumors”. Also in July, the Ministry of Culture cracked down on live-stream video sites by making content providers legally responsible for the content they publish.

Last month, tight restrictions were placed on Chinese mobile phone games that require their pre-approval by State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRT), a decision for which it is being sued.

In April, Apple’s iTunes store in China had its movies and books section shut down by SAPPRT.

The post “Original Reporting” Banned, News Websites to Take Orders from Xinhua appeared first on The Nanfang.

China’s love of mobile phones is only outmatched for its voracious appetite for WiFi. But as much as Chinese can have their requirements for WeChat and Weibo fulfilled, they’ll still need to accept the fact that internet speeds in China are mediocre, rating just 91st in the world.

The New York Times points out that this particular fact was buried near the bottom of a China Daily infographic that would have otherwise listed a number of impressive China internet facts. For example, there are 688 million people online in China, of which 358 million people use online payment tools. Even more, 40 million people started using the internet last year, and some 90 percent of Chinese internet users go online with their mobile phones.

But for all these bells and whistles, the China Daily reports internet speeds in China average just 9.46 Mb/s.

By comparison, South Korea leads the world with a blazing fast broadband speed of 26.7 Mb/s. Japan is rated 4th in the world with an optimal average internet speed of 17.4 Mb/s.

China internet speeds get compromised during politically sensitive times, like in Beijing during the Two Conferences each spring. And while accessing foreign websites may slow things down further, the use of a working VPN will bring everything down to a crawl.

In related news, China’s 4G network is reported to reach 700 million users later this year.

The post China Has the 2nd Largest Economy, but 91st Fastest Internet appeared first on The Nanfang.

Former Google information security engineer, Marc Bevand, has raised doubts about the security provided by VPNs. During a recent trip to China, Bevand discovered that the VPN he was using, ExpressVPN, was only encrypted with a 1024-bit RSA key [see update below], considered weak enough to allow third-parties like the Chinese government to access user data. The report also noted that Astrill VPN uses a 1024-bit RSA encryption key.

Calling the decision to rely on outdated encryption technology “irresponsible”, Bevand offered a rather scary hypothesis to explain why ExpressVPN and Astrill haven’t been shut down by the Chinese government:

One possible explanation could be that the Chinese government did factor the ExpressVPN root CA key and does spy on the network traffic of their users, but they prefer to not interfere with ExpressVPN in order to give their users a false sense of privacy. If China blocked the service, users would migrate to other more secure VPN services, and China would lose a SIGINT [ie. intelligence information gathered from communications] ability.

In short, Bevand is suggesting that the Chinese government may not be blocking VPN use in China because it would rather listen in on your conversations. Now that’s scary.

UPDATED 12:35pm on February 18, 2016:

Express VPN has informed us that they have upgraded their OpenVPN CA certificate strength from 1024-bit to 4096-bit. David Lang, who is Express VPNs Communications Manager, had this to say about the upgrade:

As ExpressVPN is committed to maintaining the privacy and security of our users worldwide, I wanted to follow up on your post to make it clear we’ve taken this very seriously. This upgrade to 4096-bit makes ExpressVPN best in class for OpenVPN.

As we pointed out previously, this item was in our backlog to fix. We believe that no data was compromised, but we agree 100% that it needed to be addressed. To that effect, our team of engineers worked tirelessly to upgrade the CA key strength in record time.

I want to personally thank you for shedding light on this important issue, and for your commitment to safety, privacy, and security. These independent third-party checks and balances are essential for an open and free Internet. These are values we, too, share.

Best Regards,

David Lang

The post Chinese VPNs Using Outdated Encryption Technology appeared first on The Nanfang.

A Shanghai Daily pixellated cartoon shows a hand marked “Purge” cutting the tongue of a cell phone marked “Online Rumors”.

Nearly 200 people have been punished by law enforcement authorities in China for posting content online regarding the Tianjin explosions, the recent Chinese stock market crash, and the upcoming September 3rd military parade in Beijing, calling them malicious rumors.

In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry of Public Security said 165 accounts have been closed for violating current laws and 197 people arrested. The statement did not what punishments they face.

The ministry’s statement said these people were punished for publishing rumors like “man jumped to death in Beijing due to stock market slump,” “at least 1,300 people were killed in Tianjin blasts” and content regarding Thursday’s military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

This latest crackdown on Chinese internet users follows last week’s announcement that some 15,000 people had been been arrested for committing various cyber crimes in an attempt to “clean the internet”. Days before that, 50 websites were shut down for “spreading false rumors” pertaining to the Tianjin explosions.

For the past two years, China’s Public Security Ministry has undergone a continuous campaign to stop rumors from spreading online, claiming such behavior needs to be wiped out. This past March, new regulations for WeChat users strictly forbid a number of things including lying and the using the names of famous people.

China has been accused of censoring information regarding last week’s “Black Monday” stock market crash, while the BBC reports that netizen discussion in the wake of the Tianjin explosions have been muted by online censors.

The post China Punishes 197 for “Spreading Rumors” on the Internet appeared first on The Nanfang.

In an attempt to “clean the internet” of “improper online speech”, the Ministry of Public Security arrested suspects committing a number of internet crimes, including illegally obtaining personal information, tampering with online information, uploading gambling content, and fraud. Some suspects allegedly hacked into company and government websites before committing the crimes.

The Ministry reported that police investigated approximately 7,400 cases of internet crime, but there’s no word on when the arrests were made.

The announcement comes just days after some 50 Chinese websites were shut down for “spreading false rumors” about the Tianjin explosions and “inciting panic”. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) permanently closed 18 websites and suspended another 32 for publishing stories that claimed  “more than 1,000 people were killed” in the Tianjin blasts.

The Associated Press says at least one person was detained for allegedly reporting an exaggerated death toll of the blasts.

The crackdown seems to have effected online netizen discussion of the Tianjin blasts, which has been notably muted in tone. The BBC reported that Chinese authorities censored online discussion in the wake of the blast, targeting articles and discussion threads referencing the terms “Tianjin” and “explosion”. Chinese netizens have been most critical regarding the lack of local Tianjin media coverage the day following the August 12 explosion.

Earlier this year, more than 200 lawyers, bloggers and activists were targeted with police detention and questioning. Amnesty International called the police action “unprecedented”, arguing that the “Chinese authorities must end their assault on human rights lawyers.”

The post China Cracks Down Online, Arresting Thousands for Internet Crimes appeared first on The Nanfang.

London-based political consultancy firm Portland Communications released a ranking of 30 countries that compares their soft power resources through six different categories: government, culture, education, global engagement, enterprise and digital. As part of the study, over 7,000 people in 20 countries were polled throughout the world.

Despite its good intentions, China ranked last, with the report saying much of the success China has been able to achieve has been undone by its policies on censorship, restrictions of personal rights and freedoms, and its foreign policy.

It’s not for lack of trying, though. China has set up thousands of Confucius Institutes, established the Xinhua news agency throughout the world, and held international events like the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. For China, the price of soft power is not cheap. According to Chinese foreign policy expert David Shambaugh, China spends around $10 billion annually on “external propaganda”.China spends around $10 billion annually on “external propaganda”. And when including economic policies and investments like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or the “Belt and Road” initiative, this sum jumps to $1.41 trillion.

So with all the money being spent, why is China still so sorely lacking in soft power?

Shambaugh describes the inability of China to launch an international charm offensive: “While China’s economic prowess impresses much of the world, its repressive political system and mercantilist business practices tarnish its reputation.”

Portland Communications said China’s political system “has not kept pace with the nation’s economic dynamism”, to which public polls show a lack of trust in China to “do the right thing in global affairs”. These opinions are reflected in China ranking last in the “government” and “digital” categories.

And yet, China looks to improve its soft power in other ways. In a New Year’s speech last year, President Xi Jinping said China “needs to build its capacity in international communication, construct a communication system, better use new media and increase the creativity, appeal and credibility of China’s publicity” in order to strengthen its soft power.

A 2010 People’s Daily Online op-ed also looked at soft power, saying that it can be achieved by “preventing giant foreign media agencies from monopolizing the right of voice, enabling foreign people to hear the voice of China and popularizing actual and outstanding Chinese culture”.

That sounds like it will cost a lot of money. However, as pointed out by Portland Communications, one country is making huge advances in soft power this year, and they’re not spending a dime to achieve it. India wasn’t on the Soft Power 30 yet, but was praised by Portland Communications for its advancements in soft power that were mostly due to its new leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi was lauded for his use of digital tools as he has launched several initiatives on social media. In fact, Modi’s Facebook page is cited as having the most engagement out of any world leader.

It may seem strange for China to spend so much money on something just to get such little return. But the People’s Daily Online suggests, the reason why soft power is so expensive is because you have to pay for it:

China needs to take all kinds of measures to educate the world about China so they can love it.

Maybe the problem isn’t the amount being spent, but the message.

The post China Ranks Last in Soft Power, Despite Spending Billions to Buy It appeared first on The Nanfang.

There is a certain flow to internet memes in China. Once the internet tires of the latest fad, retailers and businesses appropriate the meme into their marketing strategies. After that, the Chinese government and military use the meme as part of its propaganda campaigns. We’ve seen this before with Gangnam Style, My Little Apple, and the way Betamax from Big Hero 6 was adopted as a mascot by Chinese everywhere.

Perhaps we’ll soon see policewomen and female soldiers exposing a little shoulder while balancing something on their collarbone, like an egg:

The post Watch: Bikini-Clad Models Perform Recent Internet Memes at Three Gorges Dam appeared first on The Nanfang.

Last week saw the rise of the “touch your belly button to see if you’re fat” meme on the Chinese internet, but that was last week. Now there’s a new phenomenon to hit the web: selfies of coins balanced on your collarbone.

As with many memes, there’s no clear point to it besides that everyone else is doing it. Even though the number of coins varies with each submission, this meme isn’t a competition to see who can fit the most coins since no one ever mentions the amount when they post them.

The meme first appeared as early as 2013. At the time, it was more of a competition since netizens tried to outdo each other by putting more and more outrageous things there, including durians. Another difference is that the 2013 meme wasn’t an exclusive exhibition for female users to show off their bare necks and plunging necklines.

But we’ll spare you the rhetoric and just show you the latest trend on the Chinese internet. Here are some examples:

All these ways of taking photographs employ the use of a prop that people can use to diffuse attention away from themselves lest they not be seen as being humble enough. As such, the collarbone selfie provides a convenient way to focus on a subject’s chest in a photo, much the same way the bellybutton test provided an acceptable way to focus on one’s bare midriff.

And because some people need a change from all these coins, here’s some non-coin selfies:

The post China’s Sexiest New Internet Meme: A Roll of Coins On Your Collarbone appeared first on The Nanfang.