China Blocks YouTube Access Over Tibet Protest Videos
The free flow of information is one of the basic rights those in open societies claim as an advantage over those who live in closed societies, and one right many Web surfers may take for granted. Case in point: if you lived in China right now, you'd find your access to YouTube denied as that country attempts to block its sizable population from viewing videos of recent demonstrations in Tibet's capital city of Lhasa.
China blocked access to the popular video site over the weekend as video images captured on cell phone cameras were posted of people protesting the Chinese government's control over the smaller Asian country.
While people around the world have been following the news of the Tibetan protests, Internet users in China, who number more than 210 million, have found only a blank page when they try to call up YouTube on their browsers. While China does encourage its people to use the internet for education and information exchange, there is also a fair amount of censorship in place. At its most basic level, pornography is blocked but also images and information that runs counter to government policy can also find itself beyond the reach of most Chinese citizens.
China has been trying to balance control with the recognized need for growth of the online industry. The country briefly sought to limit online video sharing to only state-owned companies but concern over stifling a valuable and growing industry moved the government to let private companies continue their operations – with strict guidelines, however, over content.
From AOL Money.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
thebleuzorro @ Mar 17th 2008 4:10PM
Are you surprised?
China could not care less about human rights. For the last 50 years they have been killing innocent people in TIbet and destroying this ancient culture, the censorship in media is just another step.
There is no way they can continue fooling the world, we need to let Chinese Government know there are decent people around the world who care about dignity and human rights.....I really hope the Western world boycotts the olympics and do not fall into that grotesque facade of humanism and celebration in China!!!...
Larry Lubell @ Mar 17th 2008 5:13PM
One step at a time.
China wants to be a player on the world stage.
They want to compete in more than just cheap labor.
Their people must have the the ability to Search the World-Wide Web.
There future success will result in the collapse of their evil system.