What in the World
What in the World
How does China control its internet?
Up next
2 September 2025
13 minutes
Available for over a year
China has one of the world’s most sophisticated internet censorship systems - it’s so extensive that it’s been nicknamed ‘The Great Firewall of China’. Many Western websites, such as Google or WhatsApp, are shut off to Chinese Internet users, while Chinese equivalents like Baidu and WeChat are popular instead. Blockbuster films like Top Gun Maverick have been edited, celebrities like Lady Gaga are taboo and even Peppa Pig has been censored.
So, what is the Chinese government trying to achieve with internet censorship? And in an increasingly globalised world, how are they managing to filter out the information they don’t want people to know? Shawn Yuan from the BBC’s Global China Unit explains how the ‘Great Firewall’ works - and what it tells us about the relationship between the government and citizens in China.
Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld
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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Chelsea Coates
Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal
Editor: Verity Wilde
