Great Firewall of China braced for the smartphone internet revolution
Walter Sebastian and Hiroshi Saito
Modern Tokyo Times
The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will now have to amend aspects of its “Great Firewall of China” policy. This applies to the shifting balance from desktop computers to the usage of mobile phones to obtain information from the internet. It was recently announced that more people in China are now using mobile phones to connect to the internet.
Therefore, with the CCP being worried about the growing influence of information emanating from the internet, this will raise fresh internal security problems. Regulating the internet like the Great Firewall of China does. Then clearly new security measures will need to be implemented, in order to prevent the free flow of information. However, regulating the flow of information and controlling this through the medium of mobile phones is much more problematic.
Increasing usage of the internet in rural China is happening. At the same time the cost of buying a smartphone is becoming easier because the price continues to fall. In many ways, the real concern for the CCP isn’t external issues related to political motives which could be whipped up in Western nations. Of greater concern is the volatility of rural areas which can often erupt very easily in modern China. Therefore, the monitoring of information is seen to be related to homeland security which is based on possible internal convulsions.
The China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) commented that “Mobile phones are a cheaper and more convenient way to access the internet for [residents in] China’s vast rural areas and for the enormous migrant population.”
This means that the Great Firewall of China will need to focus on new technological innovations and security measures in order to maintain surveillance. In the past people were tied to desktop computers but all this changed with new innovations. Now people can access the internet all day long if they desire irrespective of where they might be. The speed of change altered this reality in developed nations but for China price mechanisms and other factors meant that smartphones were outside the reach of many individuals. However, the fall in prices and other factors are altering the balance.
China is already the largest market in the world for mobile phones because of the enormous size of the population. Yet technological innovations and price mechanisms are enabling a new generation of users to get access to smartphones and the internet at a drop of a hat. It is also reported that China is now the number one nation for using smartphones and the growth rate in this area is enormous.
Microblogs are extremely powerful in China and are great places for information about internal issues in this country. This relates to corruption within the CCP, unrest in rural areas, issues related to the Chinese diaspora, natural disasters, environmental concerns and other important areas.
The CCP installed many security issues related to the access of the internet and this equally applies to information available. However, apps and mobile programs can bypass the Great Firewall of China. With so much media attention being put on the so-called “Arab Spring” and the role of social media, then not surprisingly political leaders will be concerned about the growth of smartphones if security controls can be easily bypassed.
