China’s Internet, Sci-Fi, AI & Tech Optimism Explained

Take part in our survey: novara.media/survey The 1990s were a decade of mass technological disruption, as the internet was rolled out across the globe, and we logged on for the first time. In China, the arrival of the internet was swiftly followed by what has come to be known as the ‘great firewall’, a complex matrix of censorship, surveillance and state control. From that point on, there were two internets: the World Wide Web, and the Chinese internet. ​

On Downstream this week, Aaron Bastani talks to Yi-Ling Liu, China analyst and author of the new book ‘The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet’, about the cultures and innovations that have evolved in this separate digital ecosphere. ​ How have sub-cultures such as feminist and LGBTQ+ movements manifested themselves through the Chinese internet? How has the Chinese Communist Party negotiated the tension between the promise and threat of both the internet and now, AI? What is driving the innovation and tech-optimism in China in the 2020s? And how does China perceive the West, both online and off?