>>"Golden Shield": An Obscure Machine of the Age of Surveillance

American tech giants exported technologies such as facial recognition, predictive policing systems and cloud infrastructures, which supported, among other things, the “Golden Shield,” a nationwide surveillance system in China. Officially, it was promoted as a technological advancement enhancing public safety.

In practice, however, it was used for mass surveillance, control, and repression targeting members of ethnic minorities, dissenters, and even ordinary citizens, often violating privacy and other human rights. Despite global criticism and sanctions, the companies continued to provide or support these technologies for years, fueling an opaque and undemocratic mechanism of control.