A recent series of corporate leaks has revealed the inner workings of China’s surveillance and propaganda systems, showcasing that Chinese tech firms operate similarly to their Western counterparts. One significant leak came from Geedge Networks, a lesser-known Chinese company that has been providing censorship tools to countries like Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Myanmar. This leak demonstrated the company’s capabilities in monitoring and intercepting internet traffic, branded as “digital authoritarianism as a service.”
These revelations challenge the perception of China’s Great Firewall as a monolithic government entity. Rather, it’s a collaborative effort that mirrors the dynamics of Western tech development. Geedge, for example, collaborates with academic institutions and adapts its strategies based on client needs, even repurposing existing tech from competitors.
Supporting this narrative, a separate leak from the Chinese company GoLaxy, published by researchers at Vanderbilt University, depicted a different facet of China’s propaganda machinery. This 399-page document contained internal materials about GoLaxy’s operations, showing their use of AI and social media to influence narratives online. They claim to be the leading provider of intelligence and big data analysis in China, primarily serving the Chinese Communist Party and military.
What connects Geedge and GoLaxy is their relationship with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), highlighting their reliance on academic research for business growth. Both companies target local government agencies, addressing specific surveillance and propaganda needs. GoLaxy, however, seems to focus mainly on domestic clients, unlike Geedge, which has an international footprint.
The leaks also indicate that the surveillance industry in China is not solely driven by political ideology but is influenced by market logic and corporate competitiveness. Just as many Western tech companies began as academic projects, Chinese firms follow a similar trajectory, albeit within a less transparent environment. The leaked documents reveal that GoLaxy set sales targets aimed at securing significant contracts with government entities, further blurring the line between commercial goals and state control.
This complex landscape of censorship and surveillance illustrates how these efforts are marketed and financed, revealing that they are shaped as much by corporate strategies as they are by ideology. This perspective shifts the narrative from viewing Chinese technology as merely a result of government control to understanding it as a competitive industry grappling with economic pressures while executing state directives.
Ultimately, these leaks illuminate a system where censorship and propaganda are not just tools of control, but also products of a market-driven approach—where the entities involved are vying for contracts and profits in a competitive environment.
