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It is like saying that USSR didn't have TV/radio because foreign stations weren't rebroadcasted and were jammed.

Technical infrastructure and censorship are 2 different things, and effective censorship in highly technical society emphasizes and illustrates the scale and capabilities of the authoritative power oppressing the population.

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TV and radio are broadcasted top down, and their power does not depend on users being able to access the rest of the world.

Functionally for our intents and purposes there is little difference between having no internet and having a national intranet which is cut off from the rest of the world and literally policed by the government. Technically the walled garden FB wanted to set up in India was "internet" too.

Plus as we've determined, the internet has spread to 60% of Chinese at best, and majority urban areas.

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