Freedom on the net 2017: Manipulating Social Media to Undermine Democracy, a report published by Freedom House, has ranked China as the “world’s worst abuser of internet freedom”and one of a number of governments who restrict mobile internet service for “political or security reasons”. Chinese state media Xinhua has reported that China has blocked 128,000 “harmful” websites and confiscated 30.9 million “illegal” publications in its effort to maintain “social stability”.