Chinese police have increased their crackdown on the use of virtual private networks (VPN). An ongoing crusade that is planned to run until March 31, 2018. it also refers to a 14-month campaign.
The government’s efforts are important to all forms of free information flow into and out of the communist country whether for free enterprise, political dissent, or to feed the seemingly insatiable gambling appetites of the Chinese people.
Many people in China use VPNs to surf anonymously and make it appear as if they are located somewhere else. Lotteries are the only legal gambling in the country outside of Macau and are controlled by the government. In the U.S. and Canada, VPNs are most commonly used to escape school network restrictions or to watch Netflix shows that are otherwise unavailable in one country or the other. (READ SO: BETTING ON TELEPHONES, MACAU SAYS BYE BYE)
According to a Chinese government document available online, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has decided to “clean up” the communications infrastructure in China to rid it of “disorderly development”, standardize market order, and strengthen security.
For gamblers, it means they will only be able to buy government approved VPN apps, which of course, means they aren’t “private” at all. And while operators such as Bet365 will not likely restrict access to people in China, bettors may think twice before exposing their activities to VPN providers “in bed” with the Chinese government.
