China and the East Asian Internet

Internet freedom in East Asia is exemplified by a key paradox – even as access expands exponentially and social-media tools open new avenues for information sharing, freedom of expression and user privacy online are declining. Governments in the region are taking increasing measures to regulate not only the spread of internationally recognized harmful content, but also citizen communications on topics of vital social, political, religious, and security relevance. Leading the region’s most robust such campaign is the ruling Communist Party of China.

These countervailing trends – part of a similar global trajectory – are especially evident and important in North and Southeast Asia, home to approximately one-third of the world’s Internet users and several of its leading economies. While restrictions are perhaps expected in authoritarian contexts, they have also appeared in the region’s democratic and semi-democratic countries.