How to Bypass the Great Firewall of China: A Quick SummaryChina is no stranger to censorship. In fact, censorship programs are incredibly extensive in the country. They’re commonly known as “The Great Firewall of China,” which encompasses content takedowns, site bans, and even the monitoring of private conversations of Chinese citizens.
However, people living in, or traveling to, China can get around this Firewall by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The best VPN to circumvent the Great Firewall is NordVPN. It’s reliable, fast, and it guarantees no logs, so you’re safe from government scrutiny.
To get around Chinese censorship when you’re already in China, follow these steps:
- Check whether the website of your chosen VPN is available in China. NordVPN’s website is likely going to be blocked.
- Download a free VPN, proxy, or the tool Lantern.
- Activate the tool of your choice.
- Go to the NordVPN website.
- Get a VPN subscription by following the steps and creating an account.
- Download the VPN software and log in.
- Choose a server and connect to it.
- Enjoy your uncensored version of the internet!
If you want to find out more about Chinese censorship, VPNs that manage to circumvent it, and the legality of VPN use, make sure you read our full article below.
China has one of the most restrictive internet censorship programs in the world, also known as the Great Firewall of China. This is a highly controversial system, with critics asserting that the Firewall limits freedom of speech, prevents access to information, and suppresses innovation.
Read on to learn more about the Great Firewall of China, why the government enforces it, and what steps you can take to get around it.
What is the Great Firewall of China?
The Great Firewall refers to the internet censorship program implemented by the Chinese government. It was developed by the country’s Ministry of Public Security, which continues to operate the program today.
The foundation for the Firewall was laid in the 1990s when Fang Binxing developed the “Golden Shield” software that allowed the government to monitor any transmission of data and to block certain IP addresses. The Chinese government began expanding its efforts in the early 2000s by passing additional regulations.
Censorship increased dramatically after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. Xi wanted all online content to benefit the Communist Party. This resulted in restricting dissenters, promoting Communist values, and preventing Western ideas from influencing Chinese society.
Websites, social media, and VPNs inaccessible
In recent years, internet censorship has further increased in China. This includes measures to block certain websites, prevent anonymous posting on social media, and hold companies responsible for how customers use their products. As a result of the Great Firewall, internet access in China is extremely restricted. You cannot use websites such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube. Platforms such as Skype and WhatsApp are banned as well.
In January 2015, the government began blocking many of the VPNs Chinese citizens used to bypass the Firewall. The Chinese government officially banned VPNs in 2017 and continues to block access to them. This means many VPNs and their official websites won’t work in China.
How to Bypass the Great Firewall of China
If you want to get around the Great Firewall, you’ll have the most luck with a VPN. However, in the case of Chinese censorship, this method is by no means perfect. Since many VPNs and VPN websites are blocked within China, you should always set up your VPN before you visit the country. Besides that, it’s important to choose a VPN that’s dedicated to getting around the Chinese Firewall.
NordVPN is one of the most popular choices among Chinese users for its effectiveness and user-friendly design. It has special obfuscated servers that help you get around Chinese censorship without being noticed.
NordVPN keeps no logs of what its users do and is known for its strong levels of encryption and focus on online safety, making it an excellent choice for protecting your freedom when you’re heading to China. It even allows you to access foreign news sites, like BBC News, easily, so you can unblock independent content.
- Excellent protection and a large network of servers
- Nice and pleasing application
- No logs
For more VPNs that perform well in China, have a look at our top 3 best VPNs for China.
How to access VPN websites when in China
What if you already live in China and don’t have a VPN installed? Once in the country, you won’t be able to access VPN sites unless you already have a VPN installed. To get through to the NordVPN website, you’ll need one of these other tools:
- Lantern: This is a free circumvention software that uses a peer-to-peer tunneling network to get past the Firewall.
- A different free VPN or proxy: Some websites of free VPN providers and proxies are available in China. However, always make sure you choose a free VPN or proxy that’s safe and secure.
However, these solutions aren’t a good long-term choice. They aren’t safe, user-friendly, and reliable enough to function beyond the most basic needs. We recommend you use them only to download a good VPN, like NordVPN.
What Content Does the Government of China Censor?
The main focus of the Great Chinese Firewall is political content that criticizes the government. Anything that questions the current regime is usually taken down. The Great Firewall is also focused on censoring content deemed as “immoral” by the Chinese government. This usually includes pornography and positive depictions of LGBTQ characters.
Content that criticizes the establishment
China allows some criticism of its government. However, in order for criticizing content to be published, it needs to be approved first, which is not a reliable system for honest public discourse. The Chinese government only allows limited and light complaints. Anything that hits at the core of China’s establishment is frowned upon by the government.
By frowned upon, we mean censored. The content is taken down. If the platform where the content is hosted doesn’t want to take it down, the platform is no longer allowed in China. This happened time and time again with big sites and platforms like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Skype.
Historical content
The Great Firewall of China often expands the Chinese government’s usual censorship efforts into the online medium. Take their history, for example. There’s an official timeline that China’s government imposes. This timeline conveniently excludes what happened at Tiananmen Square, meaning that part of history won’t be found in any history book in the country. In turn, any mention of the event online is banned and taken down as well.
In 2021, the government even launched a hotline for citizens to report on each other in case they notice inappropriate political or cultural content.
Content deemed to be immoral
China has been opposed to pornography for a long time. A big part of the Great Firewall focuses on banning pornography from the Chinese internet. The Chinese government also places a lot of emphasis on traditional gender roles. Anything that doesn’t fit the patriarchal norm is banned. In 2021, that explicitly extended to depictions of men that weren’t masculine enough.
Moreover, positive depictions of LGBTQ characters are forbidden by the government. When queer coding is present in media productions, China can only sign off on it if the characters are the villains. Since China is the second-largest market for movies, their stance matters for producers. Any content you stream online or watch in the cinema could have been affected by what China may have thought of it, even if you live across the globe.
Religious content
China recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. The practice of any religion outside of these five by Chinese citizens is strictly illegal. Even preaching by foreigners can result in expulsion from the country. Implicitly, any proselytizing of other religions on the internet is banned and usually taken down.
How is the Firewall Enforced?
The Chinese government uses a variety of methods to enforce the Firewall. Some of these are technological, such as filtering URLs, disrupting DNS servers, and blocking VPN services. In addition, the government is continuously working to improve its technology and cybersecurity.
Censorship on social media platforms
The Great Firewall of China enforces self-censorship within Chinese and international companies. The Chinese government passed laws making companies responsible for all of their online content. This means companies need to ensure that none of their content or platforms contain forbidden topics. If they violate these laws, they are subject to fines, shutdowns, and other serious consequences.
This is all based on media writing guidelines from the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Companies that want to be active in China need to give them a good read and make sure they uphold them. This way, the Chinese government makes sure that companies operating within its borders censor themselves.
State employees
Another method the government uses is employing hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Chinese citizens to enforce the censorship laws. These employees are hired to monitor internet content, report violations to the authorities, and edit the content.
Advances in AI may allow for these monitoring activities to be automated in the future. However, at the moment, it’s the work of government employees that enforces censorship directives.
Technical methods of censorship
Beyond human content moderation, the Great Firewall of China also employs advanced technical methods to limit exercising freedoms online. For example, China filters URLs and disrupts DNS servers to block access to specific sites. Moreover, while there’s no evidence of this, it’s safe to assume that China also employs the help of ISPs to monitor the population and limit access to various online services.
One of the categories of sites targeted by these technical methods is VPN sites. Since VPNs can be used to circumvent the Great Firewall of China, their websites are blocked to keep citizens from getting access to this kind of unblocking technology.
Is It Illegal to Use a VPN in China?
The use of VPNs in China is banned. This means that, in theory, prosecution is possible when you use a VPN in China. However, this has rarely (if ever) happened. In reality, the legal status of VPNs in China is more of a grey area. The way the Great Firewall of China enforces a VPN ban is by blocking access to VPN services, not by fining citizens and visitors. To give an example: China doesn’t allow VPN apps on Huawei’s regional app store.
While VPN use in China likely won’t result in consequences, we do advise our readers to be careful. Whether you’re a Chinese citizen trying to access a free version of the web, or a visitor who’d like to keep using their socials, make sure you stay up to date on any VPN-related news in China. Your own safety always comes first.
Final Thoughts
The Great Firewall of China is a powerful censorship system that restricts a great deal of online content. The government closely monitors all its citizens. At the same time, there are ways that visitors and Chinese citizens alike can get past the firewall and gain access to this blocked content.
Using a VPN remains the most effective way to do so, despite the Chinese government’s efforts to block them. If you’re planning to visit China and want to use a VPN, you should research providers carefully to make sure they haven’t been shut down by the government. You should also set up your VPN before you arrive. By taking these steps, you have a very good chance of bypassing the Great Firewall and accessing Google, Facebook, and other restricted programs and websites during your time in China.
If our article didn’t answer all of your queries about the Great Firewall of China, don’t worry. Check our FAQ section below for more information.
The Great Chinese Firewall is an infringement on personal liberties, but it’s not unavoidable. With a reliable VPN (Virtual Private Network), anyone can circumvent these geographical blocks. There’s another obstacle though. China bans VPNs. So to get access to a reliable VPN, users first need to use a free VPN or proxy to access the blocked site. For instructions on how to do this, read our article “Censorship in China: How to Bypass the Great Firewall of China.”
Websites blocked by the Great Firewall can’t be accessed with a Chinese IP. Luckily, there’s a way around it. With a reliable VPN, users from China can circumvent censorship and enjoy free internet. The VPN we’d recommend for this job is NordVPN.
There’s no recorded case of people being prosecuted in China for VPN use. The government’s ban on VPNs is implemented through site and service bans, not prosecution of individual users. That being said, we advise anyone to be careful when using VPNs in China. Your personal safety comes first.
Netflix has always been unavailable in China. From the start, the streaming service decide it wasn’t worth it to change their service to comply with China’s regulation on media, so it was never released there. However, Netflix does offer distribution rights to other streaming platforms in the country.
No, TikTok is not banned in China. It’s a Chinese company, after all, and protectionism is prevalent in the country. However, TikTok works a bit differently in China. There, it’s called Douyin, and it has strong measures in place to limit use by children. If you want to find out more about Chinese censorship, read our article on The Great Firewall.
Yes, WhatsApp is banned in China. Messaging services in China are forced to give the government access to and the possibility to censor users’ private messages. WhatsApp can’t do that, so it was outlawed. If you want to find out more about Chinese censorship, make sure you read our article about The Great Firewall.
Yes, YouTube is banned in China. Like most western sites, YouTube was blocked because it doesn’t play by the rules imposed by China’s Great Firewall. However, it’s not impossible to access. If you’re in China, you can use a VPN to unblock sites like YouTube, Netflix, or Reddit. Read our article to find out how.
-
-
-
https://vpnoverview.com/unblocking/censorship/internet-censorship-china/
