Recently, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Great Firewall” (GFW) suffered its largest-ever internal document leak, with over 600GB of core confidential data, including system source code and work logs, being made public. In response to this incident, Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT) released a tool that can identify and quantify individual developers who contributed code to the GFW, providing transparency to determine accountability and promote oversight.
On September 11th, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Great Firewall” experienced a massive data leakage, with over 600GB of top-secret information suddenly entering the public domain. The leaked data included complete system source code, detailed work logs, internal communication records, and sensitive project documents related to cooperation with foreign governments.
These leaked documents not only revealed in-depth operational details of core research institutions but also exposed the behind-the-scenes export of network censorship and monitoring technology by China to multiple countries under the “Belt and Road” framework.
The leaked confidential data originated directly from the significant technical entities behind the “Great Firewall” – Jizhi (Hainan) Information Technology Co., Ltd., and the MESA Laboratory at the Second Research Institute of the Institute of Information Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, both founded by “Father of China’s Great Firewall,” academician Fang Binxing.
In response to this massive leak, DIT, a company focused on anti-censorship and secure Internet services, released a data analysis tool on September 26th. This tool analyzes the source code submission records to identify and quantify individual developers who contributed code to the GFW.
Statistics show that this exposure involves 193 active developers, contributing a total of 86.1 million lines of code, spanning from October 2015 to November 2024. The top ten contributors are: “lixinyan,” “pengxuanzheng,” “songyanchao,” “xuminrui,” “wangwei,” “wujiating,” “liuwentan,” “linxin,” “lishu,” and “hebingning.”
Bill Xia, the CEO of Dynamic Internet Technology, stated that the tool “sheds light on the underlying structure of the censorship system,” aiming to enhance transparency and support policy-level discussions on holding individuals and institutions accountable for helping build and maintain the GFW, including possible sanctions.
The leaked documents revealed a “dual deployment” of technology applications by the Chinese Great Firewall. Domestically, relevant technical institutions have tailored provincial-level “firewall” systems for provinces like Xinjiang, Jiangsu, and Fujian, forming a multi-layered network censorship system from central to local levels.
More significantly, there is international technology export. Leveraging the “Belt and Road” initiative as a political platform, China’s network censorship and monitoring technology has systematically “gone global,” taking root in countries like Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Kazakhstan, signaling China’s global expansion ambitions in network control.
Bill Xia pointed out during an interview with Epoch Times on September 14th that the harm of the Great Firewall has far exceeded its technical scope. “This not only deprives Chinese citizens of their freedom to access information but also undermines the openness and fair competition of the international Internet.”
Bill Xia cautioned the public to stay vigilant. He emphasized that although Jizhi Company has respectable technical capabilities, there is still a significant gap compared to the overall scale of the national “Great Firewall.” “We have reason to believe that there are even more powerful technical teams operating this massive censorship machinery at higher levels, and the exposed part this time is likely just the tip of the iceberg.”
As the foundational infrastructure for China’s nationwide Internet censorship, the influence of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Great Firewall” has long transcended technical aspects, becoming a core tool for political control. It systematically prevents citizens from accessing uncensored information, suppresses freedom of speech, and creates an unfair competitive environment internationally.
This unprecedented leak provides the international community with a window into understanding the operational mechanisms of the “Great Firewall.” As Bill Xia metaphorically illustrated, “This is like exposing a part of this wall completely in broad daylight, allowing everyone to clearly see how each brick is built.” With the continuous disclosure of more technical details, the commercialization and global expansion strategies of China’s network censorship technology will face stricter international scrutiny and questioning.