"Why do the 1.4 billion people living there put up with it in the first place? Why they have just made Jinping a lifetime president? Why are they fine with their own Chinese tech companies doing this already?"
China is not a democracy, that's why. This should not be a shocking revelation. It is also easy to forget that there was a civil war in China after the Japanese withdrawal, and the American-backed Republic of China lost (they retreated to Taiwan; this is why such a small island is such a big deal to China). That was when the choice was made, and the Chinese people have not had a choice since then.
"It would help to understand the geopolitical causes of this environment"
Have you been living under a rock? China has one of the best-documented systems of censorship and propaganda, operated at the largest scale in human history. The Internet has greatly aided both of those efforts -- the great firewall for censorship, the 50-cent army for propaganda.
This has been explored ad nauseum, and there has been plenty of news about how the Chinese have refined and developed their various methods.
China is not a democracy, that's why. This should not be a shocking revelation. It is also easy to forget that there was a civil war in China after the Japanese withdrawal, and the American-backed Republic of China lost (they retreated to Taiwan; this is why such a small island is such a big deal to China). That was when the choice was made, and the Chinese people have not had a choice since then.
"It would help to understand the geopolitical causes of this environment"
Have you been living under a rock? China has one of the best-documented systems of censorship and propaganda, operated at the largest scale in human history. The Internet has greatly aided both of those efforts -- the great firewall for censorship, the 50-cent army for propaganda.
This has been explored ad nauseum, and there has been plenty of news about how the Chinese have refined and developed their various methods.