China proposes an internet architecture called New IP to UN's ITU; critics say its top-down design would give governments granular control over the internet
New architecture would enable cutting-edge technologies but western countries fear more control for state-run internet services Tweets: @martinsfp , @bakerluke , @amir , @jgriffiths , @madhumita29 , @tonytassell , @iyervval , @hoofnagle , @hillmanje , and @financialtimes Tweets: Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : Equally fascinating and concerning: China and Huawei propose reinvention of the internet https://www.ft.com/... Luke Baker / @bakerluke : The most important story you'll read (today, this week, month or year because it threatens to dramatically shape our future) https://www.ft.com/... Amir Efrati / @amir : “In proving that you can control and intensely surveil your domestic internet and avoid it being used as a tool to rally people against the government...China has made this vision incredibly attractive to regimes...around the world.” https://www.ft.com/... @jgriffiths : I spoke to the FT about a new proposal allegedly spearheaded by China to reinvent the internet via the ITU, long the online autocrat's favourite international body to lobby for greater censorship. https://twitter.com/... Madhumita Murgia / @madhumita29 : China is quietly proposing a new architecture for the internet to be built by Huawei, in the UN. Western delegates are deeply concerned about the top-down design that cld give owners inc govt granular controls. My @FTMag cover story with @AnnaSophieGross https://www.ft.com/... Tony Tassell / @tonytassell : Huge story - China and Huawei have proposed the reinvention of the internet - rpt by @AnnaSophieGross @madhumita29 https://www.ft.com/... Abhijit Iyer-Mitra / @iyervval : China is and will remain a deeply troubling power. Chinese 5G along with any Chinese equipment will always have backdoors that make it easy for governments to shut down or take away people's civil liberties. https://twitter.com/... Chris Hoofnagle / @hoofnagle : FT has an in-depth article on Huawei's “New IP” a plan to bring about a low-latency, dependable internet but at the high cost of central device identification and other changes. https://www.ft.com/... Jon Hillman / @hillmanje : “During its presentation at the ITU, Huawei also made it clear that New IP would have something described as a “shut up command”, where a central point in the network could effectively cut off communication to or from a particular address.” https://www.ft.com/... @financialtimes : The Chinese government is partnering with Huawei to offer a new kind of internet — but critics are worried that it may be another way of extending its authoritarian regime https://www.ft.com/... Expand More For Next Unexpand More For Next
Financial Times
Context & Ripple Effects
China, working through Huawei, has taken its long-running campaign over global technical standards into infrastructure itself: the New IP proposal submitted to the UN's ITU would replace today's packet-switched internet with a top-down architecture whose plans are spearheaded by Richard Li, chief scientist at Futurewei, Huawei's California-based R&D arm.
The proposal extends a pattern already visible in prior coverage — Beijing's push since at least 2018 to move the entire internet ecosystem under its own regulations and standards, and its drive for influence inside standards bodies like the ITU, IEEE, and 3GPP. What makes New IP different is that it embeds state control at the protocol layer rather than arguing for it policy by policy.
First-order effects
Western governments at the ITU now face a formal vote on an architecture whose Huawei presentation included a 'shut up command' letting a central network point cut off communications — turning what was a diplomatic dispute over standards influence into a fight over the internet's base design.
Second-order effects
Governments in Southeast Asia already adopting Chinese-style data controls become the natural first market for New IP-style networks, giving Beijing a deployment base outside its borders while US and EU delegations are pushed to coordinate their own counter-proposals within the ITU.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds toward the IPv6+ protocol work China is presenting at later ITU conferences, the internet splits into interoperable-but-divergent national stacks, with protocol adoption — not apps or services — becoming the primary arena of tech geopolitics.
The trend: Internet governance is fragmenting into competing technical-standards blocs, with China moving the contest from policy forums down into the protocol layer itself.
“In proving that you can control and intensely surveil your domestic internet and avoid it being used as a tool to rally people against the government...China has made this vision incredibly attractive to regimes...around the world.” https://www.ft.com/...
I spoke to the FT about a new proposal allegedly spearheaded by China to reinvent the internet via the ITU, long the online autocrat's favourite international body to lobby for greater censorship. https://twitter.com/...
China is quietly proposing a new architecture for the internet to be built by Huawei, in the UN. Western delegates are deeply concerned about the top-down design that cld give owners inc govt granular controls. My @FTMag cover story with @AnnaSophieGross https://www.ft.com/...
China is and will remain a deeply troubling power. Chinese 5G along with any Chinese equipment will always have backdoors that make it easy for governments to shut down or take away people's civil liberties. https://twitter.com/...
FT has an in-depth article on Huawei's “New IP” a plan to bring about a low-latency, dependable internet but at the high cost of central device identification and other changes. https://www.ft.com/...
“During its presentation at the ITU, Huawei also made it clear that New IP would have something described as a “shut up command”, where a central point in the network could effectively cut off communication to or from a particular address.” https://www.ft.com/...
The Chinese government is partnering with Huawei to offer a new kind of internet — but critics are worried that it may be another way of extending its authoritarian regime https://www.ft.com/...
And in the meantime, the EU's concern is about terminology Inside China's controversial mission to reinvent the internet https://www.ft.com/... vía @financialtimes
“What differentiates us from China now is that in the west, the public can still mobilize & have a say. A lot of this now is down to lawmakers to protect democracy in an age of surveillance... a digital future that is compatible with democracy.” via @FT https://giftarticle.ft.com…
China's — and read that #Huawei — mission: Re-make the internet their way. The new IP proposal could embed a system of CENTRALISED rule enforcement into the technical fabric of the internet. Saudi, Russia, Iran likes this. Must read. https://www.ft.com/... via @financialtimes
In any normal time, this would be the most important piece to read this weekend: a fascinating dive into China's controversial mission to reinvent the internet @madhumita29 https://www.ft.com/... via @financialtimes
Inside China's controversial mission to reinvent the internet via @FT This article needs to be read by all UK government ministers and the public before Huawei/Chinese Communist Party is offered access to the UK's communications architecture. https://giftarticle.ft.com/...
""Right now we have two versions of the internet — a market-led capitalist version based on surveillance, which is exploitative; and an authoritarian version also based on surveillance," Zuboff says. https://twitter.com/...
If this doesn't convince decision makers in Europe that Huawei is part of a larger geopolitical and strategic effort by the Chinese government to rewrite internet governance and control digital connectivity, I don't know what will. #DigitalSilkRoad https://www.ft.com/...
" “If the delegates are unable to agree, the proposal will go to a closed-door vote in which only member countries can participate, cutting out the views of industry and civil society.” https://www.ft.com/... via @financialtimes