If You Think The Internet Is About Freedom, Visit Western China - Denyse O'Leary

From Heather Zeiger at Mind Matters News:

The Uyghur people in Xinjiang province in northwest China spend their lives in a digital panopticon. Over 2.5 million Muslims are tracked via facial recognition software and cameras, and their cell phone monitored for any language that could be construed as religious. Over a million have been placed in so-called “vocational training centers” that are widely described as detention camps.

Even when not detained, they live like prisoners:

“For Uyghurs in Xinjiang, any kind of contact from a non-Chinese phone number, though not officially illegal, can result in instant arrest. Most Uyghurs in Turkey have been deleted by their families on social media. And many wouldn’t dare try to make contact, for fear Chinese authorities would punish their relatives. ISOBEL COCKERELL, “INSIDE CHINA’S MASSIVE SURVEILLANCE OPERATION” AT WIRED”

Xinjiang is considered “one of the most tightly controlled surveillance states in the world” (Wired). Everyone living in the province is under high-tech surveillance, which includes one hundred percent camera coverage of the capital, Urumqi. More.

Xinjiang province may serve as a testing ground for China’s 2020 goal of having 100% video coverage of “key public areas” in the country. Western big tech firms have been helping China with surveillance. Will you be surprised if they also help governments do it to us?

Note: The Uyghurs are not trusted by the government because they are Muslims. Christians are coming under the same pressures and Zeiger hopes to cover that in subsequent articles.

See also: Chinese Technocracy Surges Ahead with AI Surveillance. So what do the reservations expressed by Chinese technocrats, about “the soul” and “love,” really mean?