As satellite internet enters China, the country has issued regulations for individuals and organisations using satellite internet. As Beijing’s great firewall extends to space, operators are now required to enforce the country’s larger internet censorship on satellite connections in real time.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has proposed in its latest draft rules that any organisation or individual using terminal equipment directly connected to satellite services isn’t allowed to produce, copy, publish, or distribute content prohibited by the country’s laws and regulations.
This also includes “content that incites subversion of state power, overthrows the socialist system, endangers national security and interests, damages the national image, incites secession of the country, undermines national unity and social stability, promotes terrorism, extremism, ethnic hatred, ethnic discrimination, violence, pornography, and false information.”
It should be noted that the CAC is currently soliciting public opinion on the draft, or so it says, meaning there’s still some time before these rules go into effect. A deadline for the feedback has been set for October 27, 2024. That said, if and when these rules do go into effect, satellite internet connections in China will be as tightly monitored and regulated as any other form of online connectivity, beating one of the core reasons why satellite internet exists in the first place.
There’s also little room for finding a loophole in the draft. It clarifies that “terminal equipment” includes civilian-handled, portable, or fixed terminals and terminals installed on vehicles, ships, and aircraft. This covers every device, allowing an end user to access satellite communication systems for voice calls, text messages, or data exchange.
Service operators would have to obtain licenses and approvals, collect real identity information from their customers, integrate monitoring and supervision, build ground facilities, and store user data on Chinese soil. Additionally, anyone who publishes news or distributes video and audio content in the country using satellite connections would require a license.
It’s clear from the draft that while China isn’t saying no to satellite internet, many of its advantages are being washed out by rules and regulations. Considering non-Chinese operators would have to get licenses and government approval, companies like SpaceX or Amazon are unlikely to take their business to the country despite it being one of the biggest markets around.
China isn’t relying on private organisations to bring satellite internet to the country either. It launched its first space broadband satellite into orbit earlier in August and aims to have 15,000 such satellites in low-earth orbit by 2030, with plans to launch an increasing number of satellites each year.
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