Is China’s ‘reverse Great Firewall’ quietly blocking global access to official data?

South China Morning PostEN 1 min read 100% complete by Meredith ChenFebruary 20, 2026 at 05:00 PM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

A recent study indicates that China is increasingly restricting access to its official websites from outside the country, suggesting the emergence of a "reverse Great Firewall." Researchers found a growing number of Chinese government websites inaccessible to overseas users. This geo-blocking, identified through IP addresses, prevents foreign access to online content. The study, published in the Journal of Cybersecurity on February 5, suggests this is a deliberate effort by Beijing to hinder foreign data mining and open-source intelligence gathering. Vincent Brussee, the paper's author from Leiden University, argues China is pioneering geo-blocking in a similar way to its original Great Firewall.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Netherlands 40% Leiden University 50% Vincent Brussee 60% Beijing 70% Great Firewall ×380% China ×390%

Keywords

china 90% reverse great firewall 90% great firewall 80% geo-blocking 70% official data 70% open-source intelligence 60% data mining 60% internet filtering 60% internet access 50%