Lin has recently come back to China after completing her master’s degree in Australia and is once again utilizing virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass the “Great Firewall,” which is the Chinese government’s censorship system.
Having first experimented with a VPN during her high school years to keep updated on celebrity news via Instagram, Lin discovered that the VPN she had depended on a decade earlier was still operational upon her return last year, though its reliability had diminished.
“It’s challenging to express how frequently the disruptions occur,” Lin, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, stated. “At times, videos on Instagram load quite slowly.”
According to Lin, the VPN application she employs can reroute her connection through various countries. If one route fails, she simply switches to another to restart the app. “They offer routes through places like Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore. I’m not entirely sure what they entail; I just change them when they stop working,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Billy, a resident of Hong Kong who also asked to remain anonymous, frequently travels to mainland China and has been using a VPN named LetsVPN for the past two years. Billy mentioned that he discovered LetsVPN, which is favored by expatriates in China, after several other VPNs proved ineffective.
In April, LetsVPN announced that it had made the “difficult decision” to “suspend services in mainland China” due to “the consequences of ongoing internet restrictions.” By May, the company resumed its “standard operations” but cautioned that it could not assure service reliability within China.
As a result, Billy opted to change to a new VPN that was still functioning. “Finding stable VPN services is becoming increasingly challenging,” he remarked, noting that “China has recently intensified its efforts to ban VPNs.”
Eric Liu, a censorship analyst based in the United States, reported that a new wave of crackdowns on VPNs began in April. Liu noted that telecommunications companies in certain regions of China were instructed to scour their networks and block all VPN services. Concurrently, several internet users in China took to social media to report that their VPN services were down.
Liu explained that difficulties in accessing VPNs often coincided with the government’s implementation of new censorship measures. Additionally, such disruptions frequently occur during politically sensitive times, such as the weeks surrounding national congress meetings in March or on significant anniversaries like the Tiananmen Square massacre.
The tragic events of June 4, 1989, saw pro-democracy demonstrators at Tiananmen Square face brutal repression from the Chinese military, with estimated casualties ranging from hundreds to thousands. This event remains a sensitive topic, heavily censored online in China.
The Great Firewall was established two decades ago, marking the beginning of China’s systematic efforts to restrict access to foreign websites and services deemed inappropriate by the government.
According to Ihsan Yilmaz, a professor at Deakin University who specializes in studies of censorship, China has shifted from merely blocking foreign websites to actively dismantling the means by which citizens circumvent the Great Firewall. This includes targeting unauthorized VPN services, disrupting their connections, removing VPN applications from app stores, and penalizing both providers and users.
LetsVPN and the Chinese government have been approached for comments regarding these developments.
Professor Yilmaz indicated that for many individuals in China, VPNs serve as a crucial resource. “For those living under authoritarian regimes, VPNs often represent far more than just a means of ensuring privacy,” he remarked. “They allow access to independent news, communication with friends or family abroad, utilization of blocked platforms, documentation of human rights violations, and engagement in political or civic activities online. For journalists, activists, minorities, students, researchers, and everyday citizens, VPNs may offer one of the few remaining pathways to the open internet.”
Recent research from the Global Public Policy Institute highlighted that years of government crackdowns have made unauthorized VPNs increasingly difficult for average internet users to access. While state-sanctioned VPNs are still permitted, they are easier for authorities to monitor.
“VPNs are not without risks,” cautioned Professor Yilmaz. “Authoritarian regimes are increasingly attempting to obstruct, slow down, criminalize, or surveil VPN usage. In some instances, these governments promote or tolerate unreliable VPNs that could expose users to surveillance,” he added. “Thus, VPNs are both instruments of digital survival and arenas of political contest.”
Liu reiterated that the widespread adoption of VPNs in China represents an ongoing struggle between the government and internet users. “In the past, there were free VPN services. The low-cost methods that once enabled users to bypass restrictions are largely gone due to heightened crackdowns,” he noted. “Nevertheless, the demand for ‘ladders’ to access the open internet remains.” Liu mentioned that the multitude of banned services means that many VPN users today are not necessarily dissidents but individuals simply seeking to access information from outside China. “This has led to a proliferation of paid VPN services, and people are now willing to invest in them.” Lin recently subscribed to a VPN service at a cost of 350 yuan (approximately $72) per year.
Professor Yilmaz also highlighted that the implications of China’s Great Firewall and its VPN prohibitions extend beyond its borders, significantly influencing neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan. He pointed out that these nations observe and adopt China’s digital authoritarian practices, especially when faced with protests and online dissent.
“Governments in these countries study China’s experiences and learn from its strategies of censorship, surveillance, and information control,” he stated. “Iran has particularly looked closely at China’s methods.”
