[China](https://www.theguardian.com/world/china) boasts of having the world’s largest population of internet users: 1\.125 billion by the end of 2025, according to [official... (opens in new tab)

Authoritarian states are increasingly shutting off or throttling access to the internet, creating separate spheres in a realm built on connection. But as one joke has it, the Great Firewall – blocking not only politically sensitive material but also global tech firms such as Google and Meta – has produced what looks more like the world’s largest intranet.Beijing is not an anomaly, but a pioneer. Its extraordinary investment in the apparatus of “cyber sovereignty” – others would call it censor...