The New Propaganda War: A Deep Dive into Modern Information Warfare and Censorship

China’s Great Firewall is a sophisticated anti-democratic tool

Welcome back to the third-and-final part of this Woz Report deep dive. In Part 1, we explored the history of propaganda up until the end of the Cold War. In Part 2, we examined how propaganda has shaped the early 21st century. In Part 3, we’ll examine the New Propaganda War, starting with a focus on China.

China

An article in The Atlantic titled, The New Propaganda War was the catalyst for this deep dive. The article gives real-world examples of where the Chinese government employ radical methods to suppress democracy. There are lots of books written on this topic, but it will be easier to start with China’s Great Firewall.

The Chinese government has established a comprehensive and sophisticated system of internet censorship and surveillance that blocks access to foreign websites and filters politically sensitive content. It combines technology, laws, and regulations to control and monitor internet use within China, ensuring information aligns with state-approved narratives. This system limits free access to information and restricts online freedoms, affecting both Chinese citizens and foreign businesses operating in the country.

In Cold War East Germany, The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the Stasi spied on its citizens. In China, the Uyghur Muslim population are censored by nanny apps, designed to scan phones for forbidden phrases. In 2021, the BBC reported that the Chinese government took down Quran Majeed’s Apple app. The Altantic’s comprehensive report goes on to say that with every AI advance, China has gotten closer to its holy grail: a system that can eliminate not just the words democracy and Tiananmen from the internet.