The Surprising Similarities Between the US and Chinese Internets | Odd Lots

The Internet's Utopian Promise vs. Reality

• 💡 In the late 90s, the internet was envisioned as a force for liberalism and democracy, a decentralized space for hobbies and connection.
• 🎯 Today, the internet is described as tribal, conflict-ridden, and heavily centralized, a far cry from its initial utopian premise.
• ⚠️ Concerns about platform power and censorship are rising, with allegations of platforms like TikTok influencing content visibility.

Navigating the Chinese Internet: The "Wall Dancers"

• 💃 The book "The Wall Dancers" explores the Chinese internet through individual experiences, coining the term "dancing in shackles" to describe navigating state constraints.
• 🧩 The "dance" metaphor captures the dynamic push and pull between state and society, with users adeptly navigating innovation within rigid constraints.
• 🎭 Western narratives often reduce China to either an economic juggernaut or an oppressive regime, ignoring the complexity revealed through individual stories.

Censorship and Control in China

• 🔍 Censorship in China thrives on vagueness, with evolving lines that encompass ideological alignment and the suppression of anything that could provoke collective action.
• 🚫 Directives from regulators like the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) lead to content scrubbing, often proactively by platforms to avoid repercussions.
• 🛠️ The censorship process is labor-intensive, involving vast teams of content moderators and a reliance on proprietary keyword databases.

Creativity and Code Words

• 🐎 Users employ creative methods like code words and puns (e.g., "grass mud horse" for "your mom") to bypass censorship.
• 🗣️ This linguistic creativity, amplified by the nature of the Chinese language, allows for nuanced expression and resistance.
• 🧩 However, the constant need for new code words makes communication obscure, even for those studying the Chinese internet.

Parallels Between US and Chinese Internets

• 🎭 Despite different governance regimes, the US and Chinese internets exhibit striking similarities in their evolution, including tribalism and nationalism.
• 🤖 Centralization of technology, whether by government or tech oligarchs, leads to similar outcomes of control and influence.
• 📉 A significant cleavage exists between technology builders and users, with builders exhibiting agency and users often feeling like "non-player characters" (NPCs).

Nationalism and Political Shifts

• 📈 The rise of nationalism on the Chinese internet, particularly with the emergence of "little pinks" in 2016, fused online fandom tactics with patriotism.
• 🌍 Pivotal moments like the 2008 Olympics and financial crisis fostered a sense of patriotism and a questioning of liberalization as a path forward.
• ⚙️ AI is increasingly used to aid censorship, with China implementing an algorithm registry for AI tools, a governance mechanism not present in the US.