Five websites, including shopping giant Alibaba, have been asked to remove vendors that sell VPNs.

It is the latest in a series of measures from the Chinese government to maintain strict control over content.

Apple has previously been asked to remove VPN apps.

What is a VPN?
A virtual private network (VPN) uses servers abroad to provide a secure link to the internet. It allows users in China to access parts of the outside world like Facebook, Gmail or YouTube, all of which are blocked in the country.

China’s cyber-regulator the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has ordered the websites to carry out immediate “self-examination and correction”.

“The CAC has ordered these five sites to immediately carry out a comprehensive clean-up of harmful information, close corresponding illegal account.. and submit a rectification report by a deadline,” the regulator said in a statement.

Authorities in China have already taken down popular celebrity gossip social media accounts and extended restrictions on what news can be produced and distributed by online platforms.

As well as clamping down on dozens of local VPNs, the authorities have ordered Apple and other app stores to remove foreign VPN apps that allow users to access websites censored by the Chinese government.

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Source: BBC

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Virtual Private Networks are often used to skirt censorship and surveillance in countries with tight restrictions on internet use.

The company has been heavily criticised for removing several VPN apps, and was accused of “aiding Chinese censorship efforts”.

Apple said it disagreed with China’s position but had to comply with the country’s laws.

“We would obviously rather not remove the apps,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday.

“But like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business.

Mr Cook said comparisons to a legal battle in the US last year – in which the firm refused to help the FBI unlock a dead terrorist’s iPhone – were unfair.

“They’re very different,” he said.

“In the case of the US, the law in the US supported us. I was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there. Like we would if the US changed the law here, we’d have to abide by them in both cases.”

‘Most drastic measure’

Activists and indeed regular citizens in China have been finding ways to poke holes in the country’s infamous Great Firewall of China which blocks “questionable” content and is heavily monitored.

To operate a VPN service in the country, companies must be authorised by the Chinese authorities.

Apple sales boosted by services growth

Those without permission, such as ExpressVPN, have been singled out for removal from Apple’s App Store.

“We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date,” said ExpressVPN in a blog post.

“We are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.”

Mr Cook said Apple stated its opposition to the removal through the “appropriate” channels.

“We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree,” he said.

“In this particular case, we are hopeful that over time the resections we’re seeing are loosened, because innovation requires freedom to collaborate and communicate.”

Mr Cook’s remarks were made during the firm’s quarterly earnings call. While the firm performed strongly in most of the world, it continues to struggle in China where revenues dropped 10% compared to this time last year.

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Source: BBC

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The new law (link via Google Translate), signed today by President Vladimir Putin, goes into effect on Nov. 1 and represents another major blow to an open Internet. This weekend, news broke that Apple has removed most major VPN apps from the App Store in China to comply with regulations passed earlier this year that require VPN apps to be explicitly licensed by the Chinese government.

According to state-run news agency RIA (link via Google Translate), Leonid Levin, chairman of the Duma’s committee on information policy and technology, has said that the law is not targeted at “introducing new bans for law-abiding citizens.” Instead, he claims it is to prohibit access to illegal content. The scope of what is considered “illegal content” in Russia, however, has widened considerably during Putin’s third term as president, with the government exerting more control over what people access or post online. As Freedom House notes, “anti-extremism laws are widely used as a pretext to block political content, often without judicial oversight.”

Russia’s attempts to limit access to online information are concurrent with legislation that may put the privacy of users at risk. In 2015, the government passed legislation that requires all user data from Russian citizens to be stored in Russian-based servers, and last year it passed another law that requires telecoms and Internet service providers to retain traffic data for up to a year, a move that prompted VPN provider Private Internet Access to discontinue its Russian gateways.

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Source: TechCrunch

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