China's censors last week reportedly briefly tested a new of cutting down websites and restricting access to intentional content for the nation's internet users.
The brief test on Thursday took at least one site offline without warning by severing the digital tether connecting its service to the rest of the internet, according to a New York Times report.
The reported test came amid a recent crackdown on the use of VPNs to circumvent China's online censorship system, known colloquially as the Great Firewall of China.
Apple has recently pulled VPN apps from the Chinese app store and a number of the most popular Chinese VPNs have been shut down.
According to the report, experts believe China has not yet cracked down on VPNs with full force, potentially to help reduce the impact of a VPN ban on businesses.
A number of Chinese ISPs recently announced that the government is testing a new way to detect websites and other services hosting and using illegal content and cutting their connection to the internet.
The method apparently involves first contacting ISPs providing connectivity for these services to ask them to stop hosting the content, but then shutting down the connection within minutes if they refuse.