Massive Leak Reveals China Exporting Digital Authoritarianism: Study

Researchers say the contracts reveal a fundamental shift in internet freedom and that the possibility for ‘rapid expansion’ of censorship is likely.
Massive Leak Reveals China Exporting Digital Authoritarianism: Study
Schoolchildren walk below surveillance cameras in Akto, in western Xinjiang region, China, on June 4, 2019.Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
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Researchers with InterSecLab and several human rights organizations on Sept. 9 published a report detailing how the Chinese communist regime not only has refined its internet surveillance and censorship abilities domestically, but also is exporting these methods for profit.

The findings are the result of analyzing more than 100,000 leaked documents from Geedge Networks, a Chinese company that has contracted with governments in Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Burma (also known as Myanmar), and other unknown governments to “establish sophisticated systems of internet censorship and surveillance.”