China closes digital window (YouTube)

[ensho]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/KC28Dj02.html


China's great firewall came into play again this week when the country's 300 million Internet users found that the digital doors were closed to YouTube, Google's popular video-sharing website.

Google spokesmen Scott Rubin confirmed that the site was blocked to Chinese users earlier this week and stated that the company was unaware of the cause but is working to restore access. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang responded by stating that many people have a false impression that the Chinese government feared the Internet. He also said China's Internet is open enough, but needs to be regulated by law to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security.

The "harmful information" in this instance seemed to be videos recently posted by Tibetan exiles showing handcuffed Tibetan protesters and monks being beaten by Chinese police and violent scenes recorded by Chinese officials during a riot in Lhasa in 1988. Naturally, state-run Chinese news service Xinhua claimed them to be fake but the government proceeded to block the entire website anyway.

Other suggestions are that the blockage has been implemented as a result of YouTube's launch of a Chinese language version of the popular US-based social website, which will make it easier for the population to "broadcast itself". The authorities neither confirmed nor denied this or any other reason for the censorship.
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Chinese p.c.ers must be pissed

[NewJeffCT]

1. They have Youku anyhow

it's the Chinese version of Youtube that also includes pirated movies & TV shows. I think it's Youku.