How does the Great Firewall of China block content? Users inside of a splinternet - such as the Great Firewall of China - get a view of the outside world that is controlled by the operators of the splinternet, which in this case is the government of the People's Republic of China. As a form of splinternet, internet inside of China is different than it is in the free world, where access is open and users are free to visit any website they want. The Great Firewall of China is considered a splinternet, which divides the global public internet into a subset of information for a specific region.

The firewall blocks entire websites and filters content on sites that are not completely blocked. The goal of the Great Firewall is to shield Chinese residents from certain information that the People's Republic of China considers to be counter to the best interests of the government and people of China. In 2013, administration of the Great Firewall shifted to the Cyberspace Administration of China.

The Great Firewall was deployed in China as early as 1996, under the direction of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, at which time the initiative was called The Golden Shield Project.

The Great Firewall of China is the name that western media has given to the combination of tools, services and rules that the government of the People's Republic of China uses to block certain internet content from those within China's borders.

Firewall blocking internet