Cyber-Leninism: History, Political Culture and the Internet in China

Abstract

While many scholars have debated the question whether the Internet would change China, the question whether China would change the Internet has received less attention. However, the Internet's arrival in China meant it entered into a highly complex, historically formed political culture. This created a lens through which government has perceived the potential harms and benefits of Internet technology, and a normative basis for a governing strategy. This essay attempts a preliminary exploration of how the cultural elements of Chinese politics, deeply influenced by both Confucian and Leninist tenets, have interacted with information technology.