Punching a Hole in the Great Firewall

China has “one of the most pervasive and sophisticated regimes of Internet filtering and information control in the world,” according to the OpenNet Initiative. The Ministry of Public Security’s censorship and surveillance system, formally called the Golden Shield and colloquially known as the Great Firewall, blocks access to thousands of websites focusing on what authorities deem politically “sensitive” issues or individuals (such as the Dalai Lama), or offer unfiltered discussions.