The Panopticon as the Antithesis of a Space of Freedom

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.