Dark guests and great firewalls: The Internet and Chinese security policy

Some believe that the Internet is immune to regulation and is contributing to the demise of the state. Others see the same technology as facilitating surveillance on behalf of states and corporations. To help explore this debate further this article examines the case of the Internet in China. China-a nondemocratic, authoritarian state-is a "hard case" for those who argue that the Internet cannot be controlled. Even while pushing for the expansion of new information technologies, mostly for economic reasons, China has attempted to maintain strict controls over the Internet. After summarizing the debate outlined above, a review of China's Internet security policies is conducted, and the ways in which prodemocracy activists have attempted to circumvent these policies is examined.