China’s Unexpected Surge in Regional Internet Censorship: A Research Overview

Authorities in China seem to be rolling out a more stringent version of the internet censorship system in Henan province, imposing tighter controls over information access for its tens of millions of residents compared to others in the country.

A research paper published by the Great Firewall Report this month indicates that internet users in Henan—one of China’s most densely populated provinces—were blocked from accessing five times as many websites from November 2023 to March 2025 compared to the national average.

“Our findings highlight striking instances of censorship emerging in the region,” stated the researchers, including authors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Stanford University.

China has established the most advanced and extensive internet censorship system globally. Users are barred from accessing a majority of Western news sites and social media platforms, which includes popular services provided by Google, Wikipedia, and Meta.

Under the “Great Firewall,” online content is scrutinized and censored by a combination of governmental bodies and private companies that adhere to regulations requiring removal of content deemed “sensitive.” This often involves topics regarding historical or current events that conflict with the official narrative of the Chinese Communist Party.

Researchers began their investigation after residents in Henan reported that many sites accessible elsewhere in China were unavailable in their province. They discovered millions of domains not blocked by central firewalls at one point that were inaccessible to Henan users.

By acquiring a server from a cloud provider, the authors monitored internet traffic within Henan. They conducted daily tests on the top 1 million domains from November 2023 to March 2025, revealing a significant rise in blocks during 2024. The results indicated that Henan’s firewall obstructed around 4.2 million domains during the survey period—over five times the roughly 741,500 domains obstructed by regular Chinese censorship measures.

The domains specifically blocked in Henan predominantly came from business-related websites. Recent financial protests in the province have led researchers to theorize that increased information control might stem from concerns about their managed economy.

In 2022, thousands in Henan participated in protests after being denied access to their bank accounts. The situation escalated when demonstrators found their mobile health codes—essential for pandemic management—turned red, restricting their movement. Subsequent to this, five staff members faced penalties for misusing health regulations to quash the protests.

Other regions of China have also seen heightened internet restrictions. For example, after a deadly ethnic riot in July 2009, the government imposed a ten-month internet blackout in Xinjiang, a Uyghur minority region in Western China. Thereafter, internet usage in Xinjiang has been monitored much more rigorously than in other areas, with Tibet also facing strict online controls.

The rise of a regional censorship regime in Henan is notable as it is not typically identified as a hotspot for such measures by Chinese authorities.

Researchers have not been able to ascertain whether the intensified controls were imposed by the local Henan government or the central government in Beijing.

The swift advancements in Chinese AI technologies have proven beneficial for both censorship enforcement and evasion efforts. Recently, China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced new monitoring tools enabling surveillance of users on virtual private networks (VPNs), designed to bypass internet restrictions. The MPS Institute has also introduced tools claiming to monitor accounts on Telegram, reportedly processing over 30 billion messages.

Minshu Wu, the lead author of “Henan Studies,” uses pseudonyms to safeguard their identity. Conversely, AI technologies can also be utilized to develop more sophisticated and adaptive censorship and monitoring tools.

The Henan Cyberspace Issues Committee has not responded to requests for comment.

Additional contributions by Lilian Yang