The Panopticon as the Antithesis of a Space of Freedom

Abstract

This article discusses the degree to which the Chinese government can control the internet and, more than that, to what degree the internet can be used as a means for control. Using a framework suggested by Lessig, an analysis will be provided of how the Chinese government establishes internet control from legal, economic, social, and technical perspec tives. ¹ The concept of the Panopticon prison, invented by Jeremy Bentham and mediated by Michel Foucault, will be used as a metaphor to show that the Chinese government has all the tools at its disposal to further enforce control over the internet.