On this episode of China Uncensored,
with China playing a bigger role,
what will the Internet become?
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
The Internet!
Some of you watching may not have even been alive
at a time when the Internet wasn’t everywhere.
But I remember such a time.
When computers were mysterious novelties,
completely misunderstood by popular media.
What’s your preference?
Apple, Pear, Wang?
Oh listen, I don’t know anything about computers?
Nobody does!
Electric Dreams was popular, right?
Anyway, the world has now changed in weird, wild ways.
Because Internet.
But at the beginning,
no one really knew what to do with computers.
Other than, you know
designing your own woman.
Okay, look.
You know how you’re always talking about how you can
simulate all that stuff on your computer?
You know?
What’s the difference,
why can’t we simulate a girl?
The 80s were magnificent.
But clearly at that time,
no one really could predict
where this whole Internet thing was going.
Although it is largely still about finding the perfect woman.
Anyway, the point is, 20 years ago,
the Internet was still developing.
And so in 1998
the US government helped create the Los Angeles based non-profit,
ICANN.
To put it very simply,
there’s a department of ICANN that’s in charge
of the Internet’s address book.
It makes sure users get to the website
they intend to visit.
Like when you type in YouTube.com,
it sends you to YouTube’s website
so you don’t have to type in the long string of numbers
which is YouTube’s actual IP address.
It’s like how you don’t bother remembering
your mom’s phone number anymore
because you can just go to your phone’s Contacts
and click her name.
But you use ICANN way more than you call your mother.
ICANN is like if the entire world shared Contacts
for Internet addresses.
That’s really important because
whoever controls the Internet’s address book
also has the ability to censor the Internet.
Let’s say ICANN removes the domain name youtube.com.
YouTube itself may still exist,
but would you know what numbers to type in
to get there?
99.9% of people wouldn't be able to access it.
So ICANN is really important.
As the Economist puts it,
“That is why,
as the internet grew up,
America decided not to hand control to the United Nations
or another international body steered by governments.”
But for the most part,
the US government has been pretty much hands off,
which let the Internet thrive
as the global depository of cat videos
we know today.
But something changed this past Saturday.
Because the US let its contract with ICANN expire.
As of October 1,
it will be run on a “multi-stakeholder model.”
In other words,
a “mix of corporate interests, government officials,
activists and experts
spread across four international bodies.”
Whew, this is getting complicated!
Can we go back to the old days for a bit?
Much better
You see,
the Internet was never meant to have a central authority.
And the less say that governments have,
the more free the Internet, right?
After all,
there are 3.6 billion Internet users,
so of course
the vast majority are outside the US.
And after Edward Snowden revealed
that the NSA was spying on the global Internet,
a lot of people called for the US
to give up control.
So did a lot of
major technology and telecommunication companies.
So the US did give up control.
Well, not completely.
the US will still have one seat
on ICANN’s 171-member Governmental Advisory Committee.
In other words,
the US’s position on the committee
will be theoretically equal
to a country like Barbados,
a country you think about so little,
that you didn’t even notice that’s not Barbados.
This is Barbados.
Oh, that is fun! No wonder John Oliver can't stop doing it
No wonder John Oliver can't stop doing it!
But just because Barbados has a population smaller than Wichita, Kansas
doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have an equal say
over how the Internet gets run.
But that’s not the whole picture,
since in reality,
not all countries have equally small stakes
in how the Internet will be run.
Actually,
the US will still have lots of sway.
But you know who else does?
China.
A country I talk about so much,
you were wondering when I was going to get to it.
You see, China—
or Chinese authorities to be precise—
are very happy about the US giving up its control.
As one Chinese cyber security professor said,
“China has the capability now
to set up international rules for cyberspace
and use our strategy and our rules
to influence the world.”
I mean,
who wouldn’t want China’s Internet rules
to apply to the entire world?
I mean, first of all,
we'd get actual Internet police.
But that’s just some professor
saying that’s the plan.
I mean,
it’s paranoid delusion to imagine
that China is actually considering setting up
its own rules in cyberspace.
Except that,
according to another guy,
“China is considering setting up
its own rules in cyberspace.”
And that other guy is the Premier of China,
Li Keqiang.
So, maybe there is something to the idea
that the Communist Party might be trying to influence
the global Internet.
It’s pretty well known the Chinese regime
has kept a tight grip on China’s Internet—
with two million people employed to police it,
so they can monitor what Chinese citizens do and say.
They also block access to websites
they consider subversive.
Like YouTube.
But over the past few years,
the Chinese regime been pushing to control the world’s Internet—
by filling the void left by the United States
as it steps back from ICANN.
But how?
Isn’t there that “multi-stakeholder model?”
Well, the Chinese regime has gotten pretty good
at manipulating international bodies
and foreign tech companies,
like the ones that will now oversee ICANN.
Take, for instance,
China’s Technical Committee 260,
or TC260.
It was founded in 2002.
Yeah,
so they’ve been secretly planning this
for a long time.
China has been using the TC260 in part
to “actively participate
in international rules and standards making in cyberspace,
so as to improve discourse and China's influence
and increase international adoption of China's standards.”
Now if the name TC260 sounds a bit like ED-209 from RoboCop,
well,
that’s a not too far off.
Think of it like an ED-209
designed to make internet policy
instead of “urban pacification.”
The TC260 helps draft laws that focus on encryption,
big data,
and other cybersecurity issues.
And as the Wall Street Journal says,
it makes sure technology is “secure and controllable.”
Secure and controllable?
By the CCP?
That doesn’t sound too good.
But wait!
The TC260 is not just the CCP.
It’s a committee.
Foreign tech companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and IBM
are members.
Surely,
they will help China move in the right direction
in terms of Internet freedom.
Except,
many companies in the West
get a little funny when access to the Chinese market
is dangled in front of them.
Like when IBM caved to pressure from the Chinese regime
and gave one of the world’s biggest violators of Intellectual Property
access to their source code.
Or when Cisco sold routers to China
with the intention of helping the regime censor its citizens.
So my guess is these companies
aren’t really going to change China,
as much as China is going to change them.
Anyway,
if you’re worried about the TC260
drafting scary big brother Internet regulations—
well, yeah.
But those regulations only apply to people inside China.
However,
the TC260 is also part of a broader plan
by Chinese authorities to exert control over the world’s Internet.
The TC260 reports directly to the Cyberspace Administration of China.
And the Cyberspace Administration of China
just happens to report directly to report directly
to the Leading Small Group for Network Security and Information,
which is chaired by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party,
Xi Jinping.
In other words,
the TC260 ultimately reports to the head of the Communist Party.
And its goal is to influence international rules and standards for the Internet.
And that’s just one example
of how the CCP is trying to influence Internet policy.
There’s also a sort of related organization
called the CyberSecurity Association of China.
Its goal is to strengthen the CCP’s control over China’s Internet,
including how foreign companies can operate in China.
But while the CyberSecurity Association
has representatives from Chinese companies like Alibaba,
it has no foreign companies among its members.
Oh,
and its chairman is this guy—
who created the Great Firewall of China.
So suffice it to say,
it’s not pro-Internet freedom.
And its Secretary General is Li Yuxiao,
who once said this:
“Now is the time for China
to realize its responsibilities.
If the United States is willing to give up its running of the internet sphere,
the question comes as to who will take the baton
and how it would be run.”
So if all of this seems a bit complicated,
it is.
That’s the point.
The Chinese regime doesn’t want people figuring it out.
And that’s how,
under the radar,
the Chinese regime has spent a long time
carefully designing ways to influence the groups
that will be overseeing ICANN,
the world’s Internet address book
that all of us use everyday.
Does the Chinese regime control the global Internet now?
No.
But they want to.
And if eventually they do,
they could write the rules over how you're allowed to use the internet!
So the Chinese regime has been planning this for a long time,
and exerting their influence little by little.
And now,
as the United States steps back from ICANN,
the Chinese regime sees this as a perfect time
to fill the void.
And guess what?
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you’d like to learn more,
I highly recommend you read this article
by Joshua Philipp,
whom I’ve interviewed before on this show.
This story has not been getting
nearly the media attention it deserves.
So please, share this video with everyone you know...
...while you're still able to!
So what do you think is in store
for the future of the Internet?
Leave your comments below.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell,
see you next time.