China Is Partly Lifting Its Heavy Internet Censorship In One Province To Promote Tourism

China is known for keeping its civilians under heavy internet censorship, and even surveillance. The ¡°Great Firewall¡± as it¡¯s known, doesn¡¯t allow citizens access to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, instead featuring only home-grown versions like Weibo. Now, that firewall is starting to come down.

The Chinese government is reportedly planning to lift some Internet censorship on the southern tropical island of Hainan, as a way to promote tourism. Visitors to select areas of the region will be able to access foreign social media and video streaming platforms like YouTube, though it¡¯s not yet clear what other platforms will be uncensored.

The idea is part of the government¡¯s three-year plan to turn the province into a free trade port by 2020. The plan was briefly published on the local government website but was subsequently removed a day later. However, local media have continued to report under the assumption the plan is still on.

Strangely enough, it seems the government is also censoring people¡¯s reactions to the news of the censorship lifting. Comments on local social media Weibo indicate thousands of comments surrounding the plan have been deleted from the platform, essentially barring people from providing any kind of feedback.

The regulations being lifted will bring the Hainan province more in line with other southern provinces like Hong Kong and Macau, at least as far as the digital sphere is concerned. Both of those also enjoy looser regulations, with locals being allowed to access Facebook and YouTube. And by the looks of it, China wants Hainan to flourish economically just as they did too.