The Cambodian Internet Edition
On walled gardens, censorship, and restriction by technology
Colin here. When you travel to China, you experience a completely different internet. Our usual social suspects in the US aren’t accessible, and it is a bit of an alternate reality (albeit, sometimes one more sophisticated and mobile-centric). Called the Great Firewall, a combination of legislation and technology gives the state a lot of control over the sites people visit, and the things people see. The Chinese internet is a world in itself, with some platforms that some use in the US (like WeChat) as well as others like Weibo, Baidu, Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok which uses the same tech platform but is totally separate in terms of content and users). Content and participation are closely monitored by the party.
There’s an interesting bifurcation among generations, according to Politico. Older generations that grew up with the open Internet miss it, while the younger generation is comfortable with their homegrown tech and approach.
In some cases, this is almost leading to a generational split. In my cohort—those who experienced a relatively free internet as young people—many strongly resent the Great Firewall. Among people who started college after Xi took power, however, there is a strong impulse to defend it. Having grown up never hearing of or using international platforms such as Twitter and Google, they believe the Firewall has protected them from false information and the country from social instability. They also think it has created the necessary conditions for the rise of China’s own tech giants, of which they are understandably proud.
Why is this interesting?
It seems as though other countries are starting to adopt China’s model. Cambodia has grown hyper-close politically to China (see WITI here) through a large free trade deal that started on January 1st, 2022. And now they are following China’s model by creating a restricted Internet.
According to the Guardian:
A China-style internet gateway scheduled to be imposed in Cambodia this week would grant the government far greater powers to conduct mass surveillance, censor and control the country’s internet, rights groups have warned. Human rights experts and media advocates fear the gateway could be a step towards the kind of censorship enforced through China’s Great Firewall – though some question what technical capacity Cambodia’s systems currently have, and say the process has lacked transparency. Under the changes, all online traffic must pass through a National Internet Gateway (NIG), which the government says will protect national security, help with tax collection and preserve “social order, culture and national tradition”.
This is obviously problematic for free speech. But the question is how far will it go? Places like the UAE have bans on certain types of sites (pornographic, gambling, etc), whereas China has human censors and monitors, in addition to its technological infrastructure that bans the likes of Twitter, Google, Youtube, and the like. Cambodia has stalled a mid-week roll out of the service citing “Covid 19 concerns,” according to France24. (CJN)
Thanks to Guan Yang (GY) for giving this a read. His links are below.
Quick Links:
The Chinese diaspora also uses WeChat heavily, which has ended up affecting Canadian electoral politics (GY)
There are also people using VPN services to get inside the Great Firewall (GY)
Manya Koetse’s “What’s on Weibo” (GY)
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An ongoing partnership where we highlight interesting McKinsey research, writing, and data.
Software can only solve so much. Companies fall into a trap in viewing technology as a panacea, says Google’s Neil Hoyne, author of Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts. “[Companies] were saying, ‘With software, this will unlock all of our data.’” A new interview with Hoyne explains why it’s not that easy.
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Thanks for reading,
Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)
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