Great Firewall 防火长城

The Great Firewall of China (Simplified Chinese:防火长城; traditional Chinese:防火長城; pinyin:fánghuǒ chángchéng, commonly known as 墻 "wall") is a blanket term with ironic connotations thought to have been coined in an article in Wired magazine in 1997 and used by international, including Chinese, media to refer to legislation and projects initiated by the Chinese government (which is controlled by the Communist Party of China, CPC) that attempt to regulate the internet in Mainland China. It is the main instrument to achieve Internet censorship in China. These CPC regulations include criminalizing certain online speech and activities, blocking from view selected websites, and filtering key words out of searches initiated from computers located in Mainland China.