China steps up internet restrictions during parliamentary session

China's influence on the internet is strengthening during the annual session of the Chinese Parliament.

The country, which already closely monitors its media, restricts access to VPNs as well as many foreign sites, applications and social networks.

Access to foreign websites and VPNs are all the more complicated during the Chinese parliamentary session, a sensitive date when Beijing receives the country's political elite.

(Illustrative image) AP - Oded Balilty

By: RFI with AFP

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The parliamentary session which runs until March 11 is no exception to

Beijing's control

.

According to a service provider for circumventing censorship, China

has

strengthened its control of the Internet and in particular access to foreign sites during this

important political meeting

.

Many sites (Google, Youtube, etc.), applications and foreign social networks (X, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) are therefore inaccessible without IT tools to circumvent censorship (VPN).

Blocked keywords

During the parliamentary session, which began this Monday, March 4, China ensures that no grain of sand comes to stop this political ritual.

To do this, “

censorship is intensifying

” online and some tools to circumvent it “

are not working

,” VPN provider Astrill, popular with foreigners living in China, told AFP.

Using a VPN or any other tool to access prohibited websites is already illegal in China without official authorization.

“

We are working hard to return all services to normal

,” assured Astrill, a company registered in Liechtenstein.

Any keyword (

hashtag

) about the annual session of the Chinese Parliament is also blocked on the social network Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of X.

Read alsoDrones and pigeons banned: in China, reinforced security in view of the annual session of Parliament

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