From IEEE Spectrum, October 23:
China Extends the "Great Firewall" Into Space
Satellite Internet services are the next frontier for state-sponsored censorship
Satellite Internet is becoming an increasingly popular way to get online. But new rules from the Chinese government suggest it wants to make sure its version of space-based broadband comes pre-loaded with the nation’s elaborate system of online censorship.
The authoritarian state has long restricted domestic access to online content that it deems illegal or a threat to its form of government. This is done via a system known as “The Great Firewall,” using a range of technologies and tactics to block or limit the ability of citizens to connect to foreign websites and online services, including Google, Facebook, and Snapchat. This is primarily done by monitoring and manipulating Web traffic as it passes through China’s Internet infrastructure.
But satellite Internet services, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, could potentially circumvent these controls by allowing users to connect via satellite to ground stations located outside the country, over which the government has no control. That has prompted the Cyberspace Administration of China to release draft rules that would put restrictions on providers of satellite Internet equipment and services designed to re-establish control.
“The problem that China is struggling with right now is that non-Chinese companies such as SpaceX and their Starlink satellite Internet service dominate the satellite Internet space,” says Jeffrey Knockel, a senior research associate at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. “China is trying to pre-empt large numbers of users having access to uncensored information before it becomes too large of a problem for them.”
How Satellite Broadband Could Interface With the Great Firewall
Emerging satellite Internet services provide users with a terminal that can connect wirelessly to large constellations of satellites in low-earth orbit. These satellites then forward the users’ web requests to a ground station that is connected to the terrestrial Internet. The new rules from the CAC mandate that anyone providing satellite Internet equipment or services within the country will have to ensure all data is routed through ground facilities located in China. These would be connected to the country’s domestic Internet infrastructure, ensuring that users’ requests have to pass through the Great Firewall....
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