[updates below]
As Tibet transitioned into total lockdown and videos of the violent situation proliferated on YouTube, people began noticing Saturday afternoon in China that the video-sharing website could not be accessed.
Tech blogger Rick Martin on the CNET Asia Little Red Blog has done some tests which confirm what many have assumed:
There were some videos uploaded to Youtube already about the demonstrations, but this block will definitely throw a wrench anyone's plans to upload more. That said, Chinese versions of Youtube, which have been told to censor this kind of sensitive content, are all still up and running as I write this.
At the same time, other tech bloggers have noticed increased sensitivity online in general recently.
Which begs the question of authorities in Beijing: just how stupid do you think people are?
March 17 update:
Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei.org has been following closely reports of further problems people in China have been having online:
Youtube is blocked, the websites of The Guardian and L.A. Times newspapers are not currently accessible in Beijing; we have reader reports of the Yahoo home page not loading from around the country.
See the comments on Goldkorn's post for feedback from around the country, and many more on his earlier post.
March 23: Bloggers in China began reporting Saturday that YouTube can once again be accessed. However, as Martin points out and others have noticed, what's being seen at present is only a partial recovery.
14 comments
People in China are snaping up personal vpn accounts from provders like hotspot sheild, surfbouncer, relaaks, secure vpn and such. They blow right through all the expensive filters and can’t be stopped. For evry action thre is a reaction. For every problem there is a solution.
People in China are snaping up personal vpn accounts from provders like hotspot sheild, surfbouncer, relaaks, secure vpn and such. They blow right through all the expensive filters and can’t be stopped. For evry action thre is a reaction. For every problem there is a solution.
John Kennedy at Global Voices confirms the YouTube block: As Tibet transitioned into total lockdown and videos of the violent situation proliferated
It was a mistake! They didn’t block it. It was a provocation.