New laws advance China's 'cyber sovereignty'

Subject

China's efforts to control the flow of information on the internet.

Significance

Since the Cybersecurity Law took effect in June, China's two largest social media providers have been fined for violating the new law, and two high-profile foreign businesses -- Apple and Cambridge University Press (CUP) -- have been accused of helping the Chinese government censor the internet.

Impacts

• Enforcement of Cybersecurity Law this year will focus more on information control than data security or localisation of data storage.
• The Cybersecurity Law will put even more pressure on Chinese tech firms to censor their content proactively.
• The success of Chinese technology firms makes Beijing confident that controlling the flow of information does not prevent innovation.