Xi jinping’s internet: Faster, truer, more positive and more chinese?

Under the current Chinese government, a flurry of laws and regulations has seemingly crushed much of the online freedom that Chinese netizens appeared to enjoy during the first decade of the 21st century. However, a closer look shows that the laws issued by the government of Xi Jinping are more an extension and tightened enforcement of prior policies and regulations rather than new regulations relating specifically to the internet. This article demonstrates that the regulations, policies and laws issued by the Chinese government since 2012 represent a normalisation of the internet by a comparatively transparent government (with respect to the internet), which can serve and is increasingly being used as a model for other governments.