Understanding the use of circumvention tools to bypass online censorship

Abstract

Circumvention tools designed to bypass online censorship—such as simple web proxies, virtual private network service, and so on—are frequently used in countries whose governments impose heavy Internet censorship. Around 18 million Internet users in China are currently using those tools to bypass the Great Firewall and access unblocked online content. In a pioneering empirical investigation of unblocked information seeking in China’s censored online environment, the present study systematically examines a wide range of macro-social and micro-individual factors which affect the use of circumvention tools to bypass Internet censorship under the guidance of the interactive communication technology adoption model. The results reveal that, with the exception of social trust, macro-social factors have only a modest influence on the use of circumvention tools. In contrast, micro-individual-level variables—including perceived technology fluidity, gratifications, and selected demographic variables—play a much larger role in our multivariate model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.