Fredrik Erixon and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama have an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal detailing how China’s heavy handed censorship rules constitute protectionism. As well as coming under fire for violations of free speech, Beijing’s invasive policies could also land them in hot water with the World Trade Organisation:

“Online censorship has become a tool of industrial policy, effectively discriminating against foreign suppliers. The Chinese search engine Baidu has been untouched by the recent crackdown, despite producing similar search results to the blocked Google and Bing Web sites. There also have been reports that users entering Google's address in their browsers have been automatically rerouted to Baidu.”

“If China does not change its Internet censorship practices, it is likely to soon face another WTO dispute. The online market in China is simply too big [with over 300 million users] for Europe and the U.S. to let trade-distorting regulations pass without action. Victories at the WTO on this front would be wins both for commerce and for civil rights.”

Read the full article here: