Into the Digital Void
Thesis
offset print booklet
This booklet is a thesis for a graduation project. It delves into the complex dynamics of contemporary censorship, exploring the digital mediation it inhabits and the ideological conflicts behind it that extend beyond geopolitical boundaries. Through a comparative case study of Chinese censorship's impact on two mapping services, it examines how censorship manifests through various "signs" with different degrees of visibility. These visual existences in the system of reality's digital representation shape our perception of the world and foster internalized constraints, ultimately influencing individual modes of being. By analyzing these mechanisms, the booklet offers critical insights into how censorship operates as visual knowledge and its broader societal implications.
Introduction
Born at the dawn of the Internet's introduction in China, I belong to a generation that has witnessed the societal mindset shift—from viewing cyber-life as merely a doppelgänger to recognizing it as an integral, inseparable component of one's being. In this virtual realm, individuals seem to naturally have more freedom and agency to expand beyond the physical reality.
Two notably interlinked changes have occurred in this ever-shifting cyber landscape over the last two decades. Through the implementation of censorship and other cybersecurity regulations by Chinese authorities, there has been a constant decrease and eventually a full denial of access to numerous foreign services1. Concurrently, a booming domestic Internet ecosystem has emerged, characterized by a surge in propagandistic monotony and a decline in citizen autonomy2. Despite the early fantasies of the Internet as an anarchic utopia, such as those envisioned in "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace"3, have long since been thoroughly shattered, the Internet's decentralized networking features have been further compromised by a blend of authoritarianism and capitalism with Chinese characteristics. In such context, the enclosure of an extensive cyber Heterotopia has been made possible.
Even though such Heterotopia is legitimized solely within the Chinese administrative border, being physically outside—as I currently reside in Europe—doesn't guarantee total liberation from its influence. I, for one, find myself continuously returning to the Heterotopia to maintain an integral part of my life as well as my engagement in civil events. Moreover, it is difficult to shake off the ingrained effects of long-term exposure to censorship: the lingering fear of potential consequence if "relevant laws and regulations are violated"4, an instinctive self-censorship that automatically silences expression and inhibits action, a heightened sensitivity to certain visuals, symbols and terms, among other impacts.
The motivation to investigate censorship stems from a personal need for emotional stability and sustainability. Since the pandemic, I have been participating in nationwide social events remotely via the internet, more intensively than ever before5. During this period, the suppressive forces exerted by the authority struck me routinely through acts of censorship: keywords were blocked, discussions filtered, contents deleted, and bloggers silenced. I felt compelled to respond to such violence inflicted by censorship so as to prevent myself from becoming overly traumatized. By turning it into a subject to research and analyze, to stare into the digital void it creates, I saw myself inverting the power relations in this roundabout way.
It is easy to reinforce the existing critique of censorship in relation to certain backgrounds and ideologies, given my context. Beyond that, I view this research journey more as a reflection on "being in the world" through confronting and entering the rupture caused by censorship. Identifying myself as part of a community in a liminal space, privileged to navigate within and outside the Heterotopia, being with and without censorship, I wonder what extra perspectives the experience of censorship has brought people like me. How do we achieve a holistic understanding of our intricate living conditions and examine our biased attitudes, considering that over time the significance of truth and reality fades, and one's position ultimately determines what they see and believe?
This thesis touches upon various fields and adopts a personal-interest-oriented approach that traces the clues uncovered during my research. Rather than the attempt to achieve certain visibility that is normally taken as evidence or truth by tearing apart the void, I meticulously take on the void itself by "diving" into it. The primary focus is to dissect the complexity of the contemporary context in which censorship inhabits and generates: the digital mediation through which censorship operates; the ideological conflicts that extend beyond geopolitical boundaries (at a representational level). The thesis first features a comparative case study that investigates the effects of Chinese censorship on two mapping services. From this case study, the concept of "sign" emerged as significant. It then discusses how different types of visibility are created by employing various signs of censorship. This is a process that operationalizes the representation of reality and constructs certain relationships between the subject and reality, leading to internalized constraints and specific modes of being.
[EXCREPTED FROM THE BOOKLET]
FULL CONTENT
The services of most influential Western mainstream tech com-panies have been indefinitely blocked by the Great firewall of China since early 2007 because they were "not willing to follow the government's internet regulations on data collection and privacy, usersafety, guide-lines and the type of content being shared, posted or hosted". See more in "List of Websites Blocked in Mainland China." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_mainland_China.
2
A rough chronological time-line of Internet censorship enforcement can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_China#Background.
3
A manifesto by John Perry Barlow in 1996 that asserts the sovereignty of the online world, declaring it free from the governance and constraints of traditional state powers.
4
A common, ambiguous warning after censoring.
5
The death of the COVID-19 whistleblower; the Xuzhou eight-child mother incident; numerous fatal accidents caused by compulsory quarantine.