Internet Governance in China: Toward a New Cyber Civilization

Abstract

The year 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of its access to the Internet. This paper provides a comprehensive review of China’s domestic network governance, with a focus on the ethical meaning of civilization in the Chinese context. It aims to explore how regulating Internet cultural phenomena and building a civilized Internet have become distinctive features of China’s Internet civilization construction. It uses a qualitative research design to analyze China’s Internet development over the past three decades, from coping with technological shocks to autonomously constructing a civilized regulatory system and making China’s Internet civilization propositions. The findings reveal the reasons for forming the current network governance pattern, highlighting Beijing’s unique approach to Internet governance. The study explores the intersection between China’s traditional cultural values and its modern Internet development, providing insights into Beijing’s Internet regulatory efforts and their impact on the global Internet community and making a number of recommendations. Additionally, the practical implications of this study are discussed, along with suggestions for future research directions in the field of Internet civilization construction.