All Hands on Deck for Cybersecurity

This cartoon, called “Joint Protection” (共同守护), was created by Xu Jun (徐骏) for China’s official Xinhua News Agency, and posted on September 20, 2017, to commemorate the national China Cybersecurity Week. The cartoon shows hands representing a number of different parties surrounding the internet, represented by the smiling “@” symbol (the internet being delighted, of course, to receive such positive restraint). This laying on of hands around the internet creates a bright white zone labelled “cybersecurity.”

The hands are labelled, clockwise from left, as “government,” “social organizations,” “internet masses” and “enterprises.”

Here is an excerpt of the text accompanying the cartoon:

Since the 18th National Congress of the CCP, under the leadership of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, our country has formulated and implemented the Cybersecurity Law, striking repeated blows to chaos in cyberspace, adhering to management of the internet in accord with the law and comprehensive governance, etc., fully erecting a dike of security in the protection of the cybersecurity of individuals and of the nation.  Of course, cybersecurity is not just about top-end design at the national level [NOTE: this refers to changing governance structures institutionally], but even more requires that the people come together to protect it. Therefore, “for the people” and “relying on the people” [NOTE: This is the theme of this year’s Cybersecurity Week] are the two central axes of cybersecurity . . .