Following a joint investigation of 100,000 leaked internal documents linked to the Chinese company Geedge Networks, researchers found that the Chinese company has exported an internet censorship toolset similar to the Chinese Great Firewall to autocratic regimes. Geedge Networks: China's private entity on censorship and surveillanceThe Beijing-based Chinese company Geedge Networks was founded in 2018 by Fang Binxing, a former principal of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications who was crowned the father of the Great Firewall. The researchers said that the Chinese system was used to detect and respond to social unrest. Geedge’s operations in Pakistan began in 2023, after the Canadian software company Sandvine ended its contract with Pakistan under the political pressure of US sanctions. The domestic censorship and surveillance system, hence, extends beyond the country, affecting people who live under oppressive regimes around the world.