Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China's censorship

China's Internet has been the subject of much public debate as to whether it has contributed to political change and the progress of individual rights in China. It is hard to ignore the extent to which government control is widely applied online in a variety of ways while discussing the Internet in China. Censorship has had a tremendous impact on China's Internet and has also become an unavoidable topic in public discourse regarding the development of the Internet in China, because it has turned into an inseparable part of China's Internet.;This study aims to explore the online experience of Chinese individuals with censorship in China. A case study of the Wukan Protests was used to reveal the practical application of censorship on China's Internet in terms of political news reporting. Additionally, 12 interviews were conducted to try and determine Chinese individuals' awareness and perspectives about how censorship works in their daily lives. The findings of this study indicate that the open and effective censorship in China impacts participants' attitudes toward media when it comes to news reporting. The findings showed that interviewees tend to critically and selectively view political news both online and offline. It was also found that Chinese Internet users who have experienced the effects of the Great Firewall may develop high levels of self-efficacy in determining media credibility with respect to political news reporting.