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China Blocks Access to Twitter, Flickr, Bing

Written by Frederic Lardinois / June 2, 2009 9:02 AM / 32 Comments

china_blocked_logo_jun09.pngIn preparation for the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4th, China has started to block a number of web sites, including Twitter, Flickr, Blogger, Hotmail, and Microsoft's new search engine Bing. Tech-savvy Internet users in China, of course, know how to circumvent the Great Firewall, but for the large majority of Chinese Internet users, these sites will remain blocked for the foreseeable future. In addition to these high-profile sites, the Guardian also reports that the Great Firewall now also blocks access to more than 6,000 online forums affiliated with colleges and universities.

In March, China also blocked access to Google's YouTube. As the Chinese government does not seem to release a list of blocked sites, it is hard to find an exact number for how many sites are currently blocked, though there are a number of tools that allow you to check whether a given site has been blocked. The last time the Great Firewall made the news was in the run-up to the Olympics, where Western reporters were supposed to have full access to the Internet, but found that some sites were still blocked.

Sadly, there is also some evidence that while the Chinese government is still keenly aware of the events of June 4th 1989, a large number of young Chinese know very little about the event.



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  1. I am not understanding what china wants. They have there own huge internet network and now they blocking these sites access. This is F*ck

    Posted by: Youngistaan | June 2, 2009 9:54 AM



  2. Richard, while most Western press focuses on how students and young people in China today are focused on pragmatic issues like the economy, in contrast to the more idealistic youth of 1989, you hint at a more interesting issue which is the "collective amnesia" of the event that is now the case among most Chinese youth that are not reading English-language sources or fluent in 1 other language outside of Mandarin. I posted on Sensitive Anniversaries and Edited Memories Kaiser Kuo, a respected China media and technology writer, brought up the point these blocks don't really affect the mainstream of the 300mm+ Chinese netizens who don't go to these foreign sites. The true nature of Chinese censorship is much more insidious, with decentralized content filtering of domestically licensed Websites, where most of the traffic really is. So when foreigners obsess about blocked access via the Great Firewall, they focus Western outrage on really what is...

    Posted by: Elliott Ng Posted on FriendFeed   | June 2, 2009 10:00 AM



  3. This just means that while we play on the internet all day they will actually get things done.

    I wish I could stay away from facebook...

    Posted by: Ibrahim | ZenCollegeLife.com | June 2, 2009 10:05 AM



  4. It is still confusing why some social networking sites has banned in china which has a huge population and using internet more.

    Posted by: Party Rentals | June 2, 2009 10:12 PM



  5. I didn't knew about twitter before reading this article. i.e., how to use it. Dating in London

    Posted by: Tom | June 2, 2009 10:57 PM



  6. Oh my god,this is true, i can't acces twitter and any other hosting service.

    --http://www.simenibiz.com--

    Posted by: omg | June 3, 2009 2:18 AM



  7. I love to read this article

    Kaiser Kuo, a respected China media and technology writer, brought up the point these blocks don't really affect the mainstream of the 300mm+ Chinese netizens who don't go to these foreign sites. The true nature of Chinese censorship is much more insidious, with decentralized content filtering of domestically licensed Websites, where most of the traffic really is. So when foreigners obsess about blocked access via the Great Firewall, they focus Western outrage on really what is an insignificant aspect of the overall social media program of control/management.

    Thanks

    Posted by: website promotion services | June 3, 2009 3:35 AM



  8. what are the possibilities that twitter marketing will work? i truly think that we need to have real value to give to our loyal follower . getting the right content to get the right customer? it also let your ideas or anyone's ideas spreading all across the minds all over the world. then it is time when twitter money is a 'way to go'!

    Posted by: twitter money | June 3, 2009 3:52 AM



  9. it's a clash of the Titans -- China versus Microsoft

    Posted by: Smokey | June 3, 2009 9:06 PM



  10. The true nature of Chinese censorship is much more insidious, with decentralized content filtering of domestically licensed Websites, where most of the traffic really is.

    Posted by: söve | June 4, 2009 3:24 AM



  11. What's their reason behind blocking these sites?

    Posted by: virtual worlds online for kids | June 4, 2009 7:46 AM



  12. Oh my god,this is true, i can't acces twitter and any other hosting service. Sony VGP-BPL2C

    Also I cant see any these social website without proexy.

    Posted by: Laptop battery | June 5, 2009 1:14 AM



  13. really?but i can't open twitter..they block chinese ip adress.
    /--www.diggingshop--/

    Posted by: battery Author Profile Page | June 21, 2009 11:19 PM



  14. I really like this post. Thanks for this article, Anyone got any more info about it? I am now your blog' s rss follower. you are now in my bookmarks.

    Posted by: sbs sonuçları | July 3, 2009 12:26 AM



  15. why do not allow me to comment?

    Posted by: laptop battery | July 31, 2009 5:41 PM



  16. Dont worry again It will give full power to use.

    Posted by: London Escorts | August 1, 2009 3:24 AM



  17. I hope one day China will understand that open communication can only benefit the country. Meanwhile I understand that some the new generation of hand held devices have the tecnology to bypass this censorship.

    Posted by: Dubai Escorts | August 9, 2009 3:29 AM



  18. I am now your blog' s rss follower. you are now in my bookmarks.

    Posted by: Mini Laptops | October 4, 2009 11:54 AM



  19. From your post, I understand that Chinese government do not realise how many people are now sitting without job... Sad situation.

    Posted by: Viva | October 30, 2009 6:14 AM



  20. Tones of quality specialists will move from the country... The reason - ridiculous laws.

    Posted by: Lily | October 30, 2009 6:20 AM



  21. One more strange China Law: It is now illegal to bind a child's feet to stop them growing.
    ???

    Posted by: CLE | October 30, 2009 6:24 AM



  22. And one more: It is against the law to store more than 1 ton of explosive (fireworks) in the celar of a house.

    Posted by: Statistics | October 30, 2009 6:26 AM



  23. Chinese people are too smart, they find tones of ways to avoid these laws. ;) Surely!

    Posted by: Park Lane | October 30, 2009 6:27 AM



  24. I will definitely spread the word, my friends who are more into this thing would love this, thanks for the post.

    Posted by: maxzaclub09 Author Profile Page | December 5, 2009 1:33 AM



  25. This happens from time to time, sometimes even google is being blocked, too bad.

    Posted by: Mobile tracker | December 8, 2009 1:52 AM



  26. Well, I think this is just a matter of time. They do it quite often lately. Don't worry folks! Everything is going to be fine!

    Posted by: Australia vacations | December 13, 2009 4:05 PM



  27. Latest news, China is to block every website that is not registered in China, let's see what they will do next.

    Posted by: Carte ds | December 21, 2009 10:43 PM



  28. Cheap Juicy
    China was excluding their selves at the new phase of social media sites. It's almost like telling not to use internet anymore. No wonder I haven't seen anyone of them actively on media sites or in games. It's good to know, they haven't block facebook yet.

    Posted by: Lucia | December 22, 2009 1:17 AM



  29. Now China is implementing white list policy which state all abroad websites should be registered under China IT department, or will be blocked. Too bad.

    Posted by: Ds karte r4 | January 3, 2010 4:22 AM



  30. And now this trouble with Google is interesting - i wonder if they will pull out of China all together, it is a very big market for them yet pandering to the government is not right

    Posted by: juicy couture outlets | January 16, 2010 4:36 AM



  31. Hello
    I found this program that overpasses the restrictions imposed. It is called Freegate, improves the speed and it seems to be working quite good.

    Posted by: Freegate | January 25, 2010 3:50 AM



  32. Keeping check or blocking networking site like twitter is not fair at all. It is against human rights.

    Posted by: London Escorts | January 28, 2010 1:15 AM



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