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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