Editing Internet censorship in China (section)

=== Specific examples of evasion as Internet activism ===
The rapid increase of access to Internet in China has also created new opportunities for Internet activism. For example, in terms of journalism, Marina Svensson's article on "Media and Civil Society in China: Community building and networking among investigative journalists and beyond" illustrates that although Chinese journalists are not able to create their own private companies, they are using informal connections online and offline that allows them to create a community that may allow them to go around state repression.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Svensson|first=Marina|date=2012-10-01|title=Media and civil society in China: Community building and networking among investigative journalists and beyond|journal=China Perspectives|volume=2012|issue=3|pages=19–28|doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5934|issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free}}</ref> Specifically, with the development of microblogging, an increase in new community that are formed underlines a possibility of "...more open expressions of solidarity and ironic resistance".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pils|first=Eva|date=2012-10-01|title=Introduction: Discussing "civil society" and "liberal communities" in China|journal=China Perspectives|volume=2012|issue=3|pages=2–7|doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5927|issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, one shortcoming with Internet activism is digital inequality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Liu|first1=Haimeng|last2=Fang|first2=Chuanglin|last3=Sun|first3=Siao|date=Oct 2017|title=Digital inequality in provincial China|journal=Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space|language=en|volume=49|issue=10|pages=2179–2182|doi=10.1177/0308518X17711946|bibcode=2017EnPlA..49.2179L |issn=0308-518X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2016, the number of Internet users reached 731 million, which was about a rate of 53% for Internet penetration.<ref name=":0" /> According to the Information and Communications Technologies Development Index (IDI),<ref>{{Cite web|title=The ICT Development Index (IDI): conceptual framework and methodology|url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis/methodology.aspx|access-date=2021-05-14|website=ITU|language=en-US|archive-date=15 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715204855/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/mis/methodology.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> China exhibits high inequality in terms of regional and wealth differences.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ITU {{!}} 2017 Global ICT Development Index|url=https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html|access-date=2021-05-14|website=www.itu.int|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525153716/https://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2017/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2022 study analysed memes of [[Kim Jong-un]] by Chinese social media users. Results has shown how publics can express political opinions, even in a high censorship environment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Bingbing |last2=Gearhart |first2=Sherice |last3=Perlmutter |first3=David D |date=2022 |title=Avoiding online censorship through 'fatty' memes: How Chinese social media users talk about North Korea |journal=Global Media and Communication |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=199–218 |doi=10.1177/17427665221100596 |s2cid=249809419 |issn=1742-7665|doi-access=free |hdl=2346/92451 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>