“China is ramping up its ability to spy on its nearly 1.4 billion people to new and disturbing levels, giving the world a blueprint for how to build a digital totalitarian state.” NYT: A Surveillance Net Blankets China’s Cities, Giving Police Vast Powers.

+ “Prescribed media guidelines are not unusual in China, where reporters operate within a heavily-censored environment that is tightly controlled by Communist authorities. However, the explicit reference to Xi is likely to sound alarm among freedom of speech advocates.” CNN: Beijing calls for Chinese journalists to ‘arm their minds’ with Xi Jinping Thought. (Remember when the internet era was going to open the world to more truth?)