The Great Firewall as Iron Curtain 2.0: the Implications of China’s Internet most dominant metaphor for U.S. Foreign Policy

The metaphor most frequently used in describing and understanding internet censorship in China is that of the Great Firewall. I argue that our use of the Great Firewall metaphor leads to blind spots that obscure and limit our understanding of internet censorship in the People’s Republic. To illuminate the existence of these blind spots, I use the term Great Firewall myth (as opposed to metaphor). The Great Firewall myth is the belief that China’s efforts to censor the Internet must ultimately fail, and that the internet will eventually lead to the country’s democratization. What does it mean that the myth of the Great Firewall is so much alive? What is the Great Firewall metaphor telling us about internet censorship in China, and more importantly, what is it not telling us? Finally, what does the myth of the Great Firewall tell us with regard to how the West attempts to understand internet in China, for whom is the myth useful, why does it persist and how does it affect policy making?

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