Geedge & MESA Leak: Analyzing the Great Firewall’s Largest Document Leak
The Great Firewall of China (GFW) experienced the largest leak of internal documents in its history on Thursday September 11, 2025. Over 500 GB of source code, work logs, and internal communication records were leaked, revealing details of the GFW's...
opened 04:07PM - 09 Sep 25 UTC
reading group
China
Kazakhstan
India
Pakistan
Ethiopia
Myanmar
Malaysia
Bahrain
Algeria
We have discussed the Chinese company [Geedge Networks](https://www.geedgenetwor… ks.com/) (积至). Last year, there was the news that [Geedge had provided equipment for VPN blocking in Myanmar](https://github.com/net4people/bbs/issues/369#issuecomment-2195258977). One of the founders of the company is [方滨兴 (Fang Binxing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fang_Binxing), the famous "father of the Great Firewall". Another Geedge principal, [郑超 (Zheng Chao)](https://github.com/net4people/bbs/issues/369#issuecomment-2195455424), is a coauthor of censorship-related research papers we have discussed: #275, #282, #444.
Today, there are many news articles and reports about a leak of Geedge Networks internal documents, including from Jira (bug tracker), Confluence (wiki), and GitLab (source code). They say that several news organizations and technologists have worked together for a year to analyze the documents. This is the primary reporting from the people who worked directly with the documents, as best as I have been able to determine:
* *The Globe and Mail*: [Leaked files show a Chinese company is exporting the Great Firewall's censorship technology](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-leaked-files-show-a-chinese-company-is-exporting-the-great-firewalls/) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115204/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-leaked-files-show-a-chinese-company-is-exporting-the-great-firewalls/))
* *Der Standard*: [Wie China seine Totalüberwachung des Internets ins Ausland exportiert](https://www.derstandard.at/consent/tcf/story/3000000286721/wie-china-seine-great-firewall-ins-ausland-exportiert) ([archive](https://archive.is/dCXZQ))
* *Follow the Money*: [China exports censorship tech to authoritarian regimes – aided by EU firms](https://www.ftm.eu/articles/how-china-is-exporting-its-censorship-technology) ([archive](https://archive.is/EIGSZ))
* InterSecLab: [The Internet Coup](https://interseclab.org/research/the-internet-coup/) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115332/https://interseclab.org/research/the-internet-coup/)) [PDF 76 pages](https://interseclab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Internet-Coup_September2025.pdf) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115839/https://interseclab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/The-Internet-Coup_September2025.pdf))
* Amnesty International: [Shadows of Control: Censorship and mass surveillance in Pakistan](https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa33/0206/2025/en/) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115219/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/09/pakistan-mass-surveillance-and-censorship-machine-is-fueled-by-chinese-european-emirati-and-north-american-companies/)) [PDF 102 pages](https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ASA3302062025ENGLISH.pdf) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115238/https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ASA3302062025ENGLISH.pdf))
* Justice for Myanmar: [Silk Road of Surveillance](https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/silk-road-of-surveillance) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909115436/https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/stories/silk-road-of-surveillance)) [PDF 47 pages](https://jfm-files.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/public/Silk+Road+of+Surveillance+EN.pdf) ([archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20250909121539/https://jfm-files.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/public/Silk+Road+of+Surveillance+EN.pdf))
As far as I can tell, the actual contents of the leak have not been made public. Even so, there is a lot of information across these public articles and reports. They include, at least, evidence of exports to other contries including Myanmar, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and at least one other unidentified country; operation in the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang, Jiangsu and Fujian; technical information about Geedge's products; and collaboration with [MESA](https://web.archive.org/web/20241202193832/https://mesalab.cn/), a research lab at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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