China Tightens Web Censorship
Mainland Chinese Facebook, Twitter and other well-known social networking sites all went offline on Tuesday. The video site YouTube has been blocked in China since March. As reported in MIT’s Technology Review, access to several Chinese Internet sites and parts of popular Web portals were shutdown and are evidence of wide-spread tightening of control of the internet.
This action by Chinese authorities started in March after the proliferation of online allegations surrounding the treatment of Tibetans. The blockages continued through the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the recent ethnic riots in Xinjiang.
In particular, these harsh measures appear to be part of efforts to ensure social stability ahead of Oct. 1, when Beijing will mark 60 years of communist rule.
According to Technology review:
”China, with the world’s largest population of Internet users at more than 298 million, has the world’s most extensive system of Web monitoring and censorship and has issued numerous regulations in response to the rise of blogging and other trends.”
“While the government claims the main targets are pornography, online gambling, and other sites deemed harmful to society, critics say that often acts as cover for detecting and blocking sensitive political content.”
