Report: China Begins Global Effort To Suppress Speech, Teaches Other Nations To Censor
China has faced international criticism over reports that its officials are restricting speech and access to dissenting opinions on the nation’s internet.
Now, reports indicate the country is attempting to export that practice around the world through a series of seminars and other efforts to share its methods of restricting online expression.
As Fast Company reported this week, evidence shows Chinese officials have hosted foreign delegates for training.
Through this program, the nation reportedly couches its description of the practice in terms related to the curtailment of fake news.
The new claims stem from a report published by Freedom House, which compiled data regarding the state of online freedom around the world in 2018.
Taken as a whole, Freedom House finds China’s trend of spreading its restrictions on online speech carries a major potential risk.
“This year, Beijing took steps to propagate its model abroad by conducting large-scale trainings of foreign officials, providing technology to authoritarian governments, and demanding that international companies abide by its content regulations even when operating outside of China,” the report’s authors determined. “These trends present an existential threat to the future of the open internet and prospects for greater democracy around the globe.”
https://www.westernjournal.com/report-china-begins-global-effort-suppress-speech-teaches-nations-censor/