China's General Administration of Press and Publications agency selects which publications and audiovisual products may enter China, while the State Administration on Radio, Film, and Culture and the Ministry of Culture review various media. Additionally, China's Ministry of Culture selects which entities may import finished audiovisual products. This effective monopoly on the import and distribution of multimedia products means that China tightly restricts the import of cultural media into the country. These measures have been the focus of a WTO investigation launched by the United States in 2007 (DS363). The panel ruled in favor of the complainant, deeming that China had not adequately substantiated its defense, which concerned the need to protect public morals. In total, the panel found 29 WTO violations throughout various Chinese regulations, catalogs, rules, opinions, and legal instruments. Rather than fully implementing the panel's recommendations, China and the US reached a memorandum of understanding via a negotiated settlement. Many of the associated laws remain in place, and their influence is amplified by provincial and local-level regulations that cite them.

According to Art. 6 of the Interim Provisions, computer information networks for direct international networking must use the international channels provided by the national public telecommunications network of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. No unit or individual may establish or use other channels for international networking on their own. The public security authorities may issue a warning and impose a fine of up to RMB 15,000 (USD 2200) on anyone who violates this provision. In addition, institutions or individuals are not allowed to use the international network to endanger national security, divulge state secrets, infringe upon national, social, and collective interests and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, or engage in illegal and criminal activities. Institutions and individuals engaged in international networking services are required to file procedures in designated public security agencies within 30 days of the connection, and accept the security supervision, inspection, and guidance of the public security authorities; for those who violate the measures, individuals and institutions can be fined in serious cases and they can be given within six months to stop networking, shut down for rectification, etc. The Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Internet Information Content Management set out the procedural and administrative processes for the Cyberspace Administration of China to enforce the laws and regulations relating to Internet content.

According to Art. 7 of the Telecom Regulations, a telecom operator must obtain a proper license for its telecom business. In accordance with Art. 8, telecom business is divided into basic telecom business, and value-added telecom business. The Classification Catalogue of Telecom Business, attached to these Regulations, further divides basic telecom business and VAT business into different sub-categories, each requiring a corresponding license. One of the essential sub-categories of VAT business is called “Information Service”. The information service provided through the Internet is called “Internet Information Service”, which is usually referred to as Internet Content Provision (ICP) service. This is a very broad category and covers a wide range of online services, such as instant messaging, app stores, search engines, online communities, and online anti-virus services, etc. An ICP license is required for the ICP service. All websites with their own domain name that are hosted on the Chinese mainland territory are required to obtain an ICP license. Websites that are hosted outside of the Chinese mainland territory do not need to obtain it.
ICP filing is regulated by local regulations in each province. In general, requirements are similar in every province; for example, the core requirement fixed by Beijing municipality is that the website abides by the content laws in China and "should not contain materials related to terrorism, explosives, drugs, jurisprudence, gambling, and other illegal acts”. In addition, the following requirements and documents shall be prepared and provided:
- The domain name must be registered from a China-based domain name provider.
- The ICP Filing subject must be the domain name owner.
- For personal, a scanned copy or photo of the front and back of the ID card is required.
- For company, a scanned copy or photo of the company’s registration certificate, and scanned copies or photos of the front and back of the ID cards of the persons in charge of ICP Filing and the website.
- Other documents required by the local communications administration, such as a domain name certificate.
Websites are shut down and companies can be blacklisted by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology if they do not comply with the ministry's requirements.

According to Art. 5 of the Provisions on the Administration of Internet News Information Services, Internet news providers are required to obtain a permit to provide Internet news information services to the social public through Internet websites, application software, forums, blogs, microblogs, public account, instant messaging tools, online live streaming and other such methods. In addition, pursuant to Art. 6 of the law, the applicant’s person-in-charge or chief editor must be a Chinese citizen and the applicant shall have a legal person legally established within the territory of the People's Republic of China. Furthermore, the applicant must separately obtain an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license or an ICP filing from telecom industry regulators. According to Art. 16 of the law, without an ICP number, a website can be shut down by the hosting provider with no notice.
Furthermore, all privately operated news services are obligated to have their operations overseen by personnel endorsed by the ruling party. Editorial staff working on these platforms need approval from national or local government internet and information offices, and their employees are required to undergo training and obtain reporting credentials from the central government. The Provisions on Administrative Law Enforcement Procedures for Internet Information Content Management set out the procedural and administrative processes for the Cyberspace Administration of China to enforce the laws and regulations relating to Internet content.

There are strict guidelines for what can be published online and how the publisher should conduct business in China came into force in March 2016. According to Art. 10 of the Administrative Regulations for Online Publishing Services, Chinese-foreign equity joint ventures, Chinese-foreign cooperative ventures, and foreign-funded entities are not allowed to engage in online publishing services. Moreover, according to Art. 7 of the law, any publisher of online content, including texts, pictures, maps, games, animations, audio, and videos will be required to store their necessary technical equipment, related servers, and storage devices in China. Furthermore, any online publication service unit needs to get prior approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) if they want to cooperate on a project with any foreign company, joint venture, or individual.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in China. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

It is reported that a state-backed campaign being undertaken against pornography and illegal publications forced five online data storage providers to shut down their services. The companies who reported having their services shut down are KuaiPan, UC Net Disk, Vdisk, 115 Technology, and Weiyun, and are all based in China. Foreign cloud storage providers, such as Dropbox and Google Drive have long been blocked in China.

Government-owned ISPs reportedly place filtering devices in the backbone and in provincial-level internal networks, a development that could potentially allow for interprovincial filtering. It is reported that at least 14,000 search terms on search engines are filtered.

Under the provisions of the Cybersecurity Law, and as part of a social media crackdown on websites that disseminate "vulgar content" and which "negatively impact society", China is reported to have shut down over 60 social media accounts that covered celebrity gossip. Additionally, China's media oversight body, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio Film, and Television, ordered three major online companies (Weibo, iFeng, and ACFUN) to halt some of their multimedia streaming services, citing that they lacked adequate permits and that the sites hosted "many politically-related programs that do not conform with state rules".

It has been reported that, as of September 2017, Whatsapp is fully blocked in China. Although the service has seen some disruptions before, this is the first time that it has been blocked to such a complete extent. It has also been reported that this blockage forms part of China's social media crackdown, which followed the introduction of its Cybersecurity Law.

According to the Administrative Measures on Internet Forum Community Service, and the Administrative Measures on Internet Comment, providers of internet forum community services and providers of comment functions (together known as 'Speech Function Providers') are required to monitor the posts and comments, take action and report to the Cyberspace Administration of China if prohibited information has been published or discovered. In such situations, Speech Function Providers are required to cease transmission of the content, delete content or comments, restrict the comment function, close user accounts or sub-forums and revoke administrator powers (in case of a forum). For news-related comment functions, the comments must be censored before being published. Speech Function Providers are also required to set up a complaints procedure in relation to posts and comments.

It is reported that in China, there is centralized control over international internet gateways, and occasional local shutdowns of internet access occur to suppress social unrest. This is facilitated through a nationwide system known as the Golden Shield, which involves blocking, filtering, and monitoring access to international websites. Since 2012, even Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have been reported blocked by the Golden Shield. In addition, the government has previously completely cut off access to communication systems during specific events, as seen in the 10-month internet blackout in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in 2009. Furthermore, specific web applications are blocked, and major platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Foursquare remain consistently inaccessible. It is reported that "Medium", an online website that allows users including news websites to publish sharable content is blocked since April 2016. In addition, Reddit was blocked in 2018, and Wikipedia faced restrictions in 2019. In addition, popular applications like Google Drive, Calendar, and Translate were also reported blocked. As of mid-2020, over 170 of the top 1,000 globally visited websites and social media platforms are inaccessible in China. This includes prominent international news outlets and independent Chinese-language news services. Many websites of human rights organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House are also blocked.

According to Art. 6 of the Regulations on the Ecological Governance of Network Information Content, network information content producers shall not produce, reproduce or publish illegal information containing the following content: (i) Opposing the basic principles established by the Constitution; (ii) Spreading rumors and disturbing the economic and social order; (iii) Other contents prohibited by laws and administrative regulations. The Provisions state that when a social media user violates Art. 6 of the Provisions, the service platform must take measures including rectifying warnings, restricting functions, suspending updates and terminating accounts in accordance with the law, and must also notify the authorities.

According to Art. 7 of the Administrative Provisions on Information Services of Mobile Internet Application Programs, app providers are required to monitor online content and report violations to government authorities. App providers and app stores must not use apps to endanger national security or disrupt the public order, or to produce, reproduce, publish, or disseminate content banned by laws and regulations, according to the Provisions. In addition, app providers must monitor banned content and take action against users that publish banned content, by issuing warnings, restricting functions, stopping updates, or terminating accounts. They must also keep a record of the violations and report the matters to relevant government authorities. In addition, according to Art. 8, app stores are required to verify the legitimacy of app providers and ensure app providers protect user information and publish lawful content. App stores are required to take action against offending app providers by issuing warnings, suspending their publications, or removing the aberrant apps from the stores. App stores are also required to keep records of the violations and report them to the relevant government authorities.

According to Art. 19 of the Counter-Terrorism Law issued in 2016, telecom operators and Internet service providers shall establish content monitoring and network security programs. Likewise, companies are required to adopt precautionary security measures to prevent the dissemination of information on extremism, to report terrorism information to the authorities in a timely manner, to keep original records, and to promptly delete such messages to prevent further circulation. The law introduces both pecuniary fines and detentions up to 15 days for telecommunications operators and ISPs personnel who fail to “stop transmission” of terrorist or extremist content, “shut down related services,” or implement “network security” measures to prevent the transmission of such content.