This article opens with a brief exposition of the Chinese model of internet sovereignty a model in terms of which the Xi regime has built a national version of the internet 'walled off' from the global internet and allowing complete state control over the free flow of information online. 7 Through a global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China spreads this technology which advocates its vision of a government-supervised internet across the globe including to Africa. 6 This 'China model' of digital governance is a palatable guise for a far-reaching system of state censorship that is enhanced by cutting-edge digital technologies. 5 As part of President Xi Jinping's strategy to transform China into a 'cyber superpower', the government and Chinese technology companies engage in a sustained effort to export the technology at the heart of the country's information-control system to nations around the globe. Perhaps of greater concern is the fact that the Chinese government has transferred its domestic policies on digital technology to its foreign policy.
#Neo colonialism how to#
4China discovered how to exploit the internet and information technology in ways that reduce - instead of enhance - freedom.
Principles like "freedom", "openness", and "interoperability" are critical in this liberal-democratic approach.' 2 These assumptions prompted the New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, in 2005 to write: 't's the Chinese leadership itself that is digging the Communist Party's grave, by giving the Chinese people broadband.' 3 However, the Chinese government has shown the 'techno-optimists' to be wrong far from igniting a political transformation in China the internet is an indispensable tool advancing state censorship and surveillance. 1 Liberal democracies assume that a global and open internet 'supports free speech, and progressively spurs global interconnectivity. Key words: Chinese internet censorship data surveillance digital authoritarianism digital neo-colonialism global cyber governance internet sovereigntyĭigital technology often is lauded as liberating, favouring the striving for equal justice, democracy and human rights. If African governments fail to advance their own values and interests - including freedom of expression, free enterprise and the rule of law - with equal boldness, the 'China model' of digital governance by default might very well become the 'Africa model'. This contribution argues that the rapid expansion across Africa of Chinese technology companies and their products warrants vigilance. Chinese companies work closely with Chinese state authorities to export technology to Africa in order to extend China's influence and promote its cyberspace governance model. An integral part of this effort is the propagation by Beijing of the notion of 'internet sovereignty' - China's supreme right to govern the internet within its borders and keep it under rigid control. Digital neo-colonialism: The Chinese model of internet sovereignty in AfricaĪssociate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa Ĭhina is making a sustained effort to become a 'cyber superpower'.
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