Matt Schiavenza

The March issue of The Atlantic, America’s best magazine, is now online (available with free registration). Included within is a fascinating piece by the magazine’s man in China, James Fallows, that unravels some of the mysteries behind what expats have dubbed “The Great Firewall of China”: China’s sophisticated method of censoring the internet.

What’s notable is how easy the firewall is to evade- it isn’t as if men in black suits and sunglasses will appear at your front door if you mistakenly type “Taiwan independence” in your Google search bar. Most internet-savvy foreigners I know in China use proxy servers (available free on the internet) that renders the entire firewall completely moot. In effect, it simply isn’t difficult at all to find any information you want on the internet from within China.

Yet the simple hassle of circumventing the censors makes most people unwilling to go to the trouble. Fallows points out that Chinese cities are simply teeming with media and that most information that affects people’s lives is convenient to obtain.

Here’s a follow-up interview with Fallows for those who have read the article. The rest of the issue is excellent too-as always.