When has China blocked Internet sites and why?

[JayAtl]

1: The beginning: regulations

China began Internet censorship with regulations, codified a year later, that have broad categories under which sites could be blocked. Visitors wait to take a turn surfing the Internet at an international computer exhibition in Beijing in 1996. The following are a few examples of censorship:

2. Anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Chinese authorities on June 4 blocked access to search terms related to the 23rd anniversary of the 1989 crackdown against protesters in Beijing. No results for returned on Chinese search engines for phrases such as ''six four'' (the date), "23'' (the anniversary), ''never forget'' or "candle'' (a reference to a candlelight vigil authorities sought to discourage). Officially, China calls June 4 ''Internet maintenance day'' in which sites might be down for fixes, a move that clouds which sites have been restricted

3. Even Tiananmen anniversary numbers

In 2012, when the Shanghai stock market fell 64.89 points on June 4, some Chinese interpreted that closing number as a reference to the date of the Tiananmen massacre. Censors tried to wipe out any reference to it on popular microblogs.

4. Reporting that the prime minister's family is worth billions

An explosive article about the massive wealth accumulated by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's family prompted Beijing to block English- and Chinese-language New York Times Web sites on Oct. 26. China called the article a ''smear.'' Read the Internet-blocking story and the Times investigation.

5. Reporting on Vice President Xi Jinping's family wealth

Bloomberg News Web sites were blocked after a June 29 report about the family of Xi. The report caused consternation because Xi, like Wen, has publicly criticized corruption in China. Xi is expected to be among younger leaders handed power this year from President and Communist Party chief Hu Jintao and Wen, the prime minister. As Xi rose, Bloomberg reported, "his extended family expanded their business interests to include minerals, real estate and mobile-phone equipment.''

6. Chen Guangcheng

A blind lawyer who caught the ire of authorities for rallying opposition to forced sterilizations, Chen escaped from house arrest on April 22 and made it to Beijing and the U.S. Embassy. China banned from Chinese search engines Chen's name, his initials, the term ''Blind Man,'' his home village and even movie titles that were being used as code words: "The Shawshank Redemption'' and "The Great Escape.'' But social media users got the word out. . . . Read the article

 . . Official media belatedly acknowledged Chen's escape with broadsides against him and U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke. Outraged readers bombarded the comment section of the Beijing Daily, defending Locke and Chen. Soon, even “Beijing Daily” joined the list of banned search terms. After delicate negotiations, Chen and his wife were allowed to leave China to study in the United States

7. Ferrari

Chinese censors began banning the word ''Ferrari'' after reports came in of a fatal crash in Beijing on March 18 involving a black Ferrari 458 Italia Spyder, reportedly driven by the son of a senior official. Police would not release details of the driver's identity, and Web sites such as Sina and the popular QQ online chat service deleted reports on the topic. Sina blocked online searches as well.

8. Neil Heywood

Weeks after the 41-year-old British business consultant was found dead in a hotel room in Chongqing, Chinese censors had banned searches for his Chinese name, Hai Wu De

9. Aspects of the Bo Xilai case

The case of Heywood helped lead to the downfall of Bo Xilai, a regional political boss and rising political star. . . . . . . On March 15, news reports announced that Bo had lost his job as Communist Party boss. Authorities in April said Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, and a household aide were suspected of killing Heywood. Gu was tried and convicted of murder. Bo lost his party post Oct. 26.

10. A live U.S.-China summit news conference

Chinese authorities blacked out live coverage from BBC, CNN and other outlets of the news conference between President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Jan. 19, 2011. When Hu was asked about human rights, he responded: "A lot still needs to be done ...'' And then a BBC television clip of the event went black as well. . . . .  The official Xinhua news agency provided no transcript or details of questions and answers from the news conference. The Communist organ People's Daily did not mention human rights, and the conference was not covered live by CCTV, the main Chinese television station, nor was there video available on its Web site.

11. Jasmine Revolution

The professional networking site LinkedIn was blocked in February 2011, apparently after a user began a discussion group called "Jasmine Voice.'' The group had asked followers to comment on the possibility of a Jasmine Revolution in China, akin to the revolutions that swept North Africa and the Mideast. Authorities also banned searches for the words "Tunisia," "Egypt," "jasmine" and the Chinese name for then-U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. LinkedIn's blocking followed that of Skype, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Foursquare, Vimeo, Blogger, Blogspot, WikiLeaks and Hulu — some for objectionable

12. The Nobel Peace Prize

In December 2010, China blocked broadcasts and video feeds of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony that gave the award to Liu Xiaobo, who was imprisoned in China. The Web sites of BBC, CNN, Britain's Channel 4 and Norwegian television NRK were among those blocked. China also prohibited family members from attending the ceremony. . . .. . . Liu, a literary critic, was jailed after writing Charter '08, a pro-democracy manifesto. He was honored by the Nobel committee for ''his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights.'' He has called for free elections and the end of single-party rule in China. "Mr. Liu reminds us that human dignity ... depends upon the advance of democracy, open society and the rule of law," President Obama said after Liu's Nobel award. "The values he espouses are universal, his struggle is peaceful.''

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...y/2012/07/06/gJQAJF1aSW_gallery.html#photo=17

 

[INDIC]

China is a censorland.

 

[kurup]

So the censorship is evoked whenever they want to hide the ugly truths ......

 

[JayAtl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_India

Internet censorship in India

http://tech2.in.com/features/general/internet-censorship-a-growing-concern/666872

Internet recently turned 30, but it could be easily dubbed as 13 going on 30 looking at the ways in which it’s being dealt with by government authorities who are attempting to clamp the freedom of the online world—much like parents try to restrict their wayward teenagers. The very open and free nature of Internet was threatened in the 2012 as government around the world tried to clamp the service. While these attempts were met with protests from netizens, we can’t afford to let the guard down in the coming year or our Internet freedom will be seriously affected.

The recently published Freedom on the Net 2012: A Global Assessment of Internet and Digital Media report by Freedom House, an independent watchdog organisation, highlighted the increasing trend of censoring the web across the world. Out of the 47 countries it surveyed, it discovered that as many as 19 countries have since 2011 adopted policies to censor the web, which effectively hampers online speech. While it found Estonia with the greatest degree of Internet freedom, countries like Iran, Cuba and China were found to be on the other extreme.

Governments of many countries are playing the Orwellian script by introducing draconian laws to censor the web. Let’s take a look at Internet censorship followed in some countries that drew lot of attention in the past year.
China
People's Republic of China is known to have an iron grip over the Internet as well as traditional media and other means of communication. It has various regulations in place when it comes to use of Internet usage for its citizens, who happen to be amongst the world’s largest population of Internet connection. This high level of censorship seems politically motivated, as was evident from incidents of arrests of individuals who used the medium to make their voice heard, showing dissent against the countries political scenario. Most recent incident that grabbed headlines across the globe was the plight of blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng who was placed under house arrest for exposing government malpractices and later managed to flee to US. While it was the most discussed issue the world over thanks to censorship, the majority of the Chinese population remained in dark about the developments.

China has in place intricate system that’s more like an Intranet and thus allows it to control the web. It also has in place human censors who take down and weddle out content that is deemed unfit. While its own online news sites are heavily censored, this censorship also extends to international news sites. Time and again it has blocked access to international news sites that have criticised the Chinese government or even issues related to censorship. For most of Chinese Internet users, censorship is the order of the day and they have to practice self-censorship when using Internet or be ready to pay the price, as online content is under heavy surveillance. However, activists in the country have so far managed to work their way around the blocks and gain access to prohibited sites like Twitter and Facebook using proxy servers and other means to make their voices heard. But according to latest reports, users accessing blocked sites and services using proxy servers were finding it difficult to do so. Experts are of the opinion that the Chinese censors have found a way to even encrypt the proxy access. Also, a new proposal by one of China’s governing body seeks to make it mandatory for users to use their real identities when using the Internet. If passed, this law will prove to be quite detrimental.

India
Since the past couple of years, the instances of Internet censorship in India has increased manifold. In 2011, India adopted the new ‘IT Rules 2011’ that supplemented the IT Act 2000. These rules made it mandatory for Internet intermediaries to remove objectionable content within 36 hours of receiving complaint. But the terms included were vague and open to interpretations. These rules received sharp criticism, but they have prevailed. In 2011, government also drew flak as it asked major sites like Google, Facebook and Yahoo to ‘pre-screen’ content and remove any objectionable, defamatory content from going live. It was alleged that the government urged the Internet companies to use human beings and not machines to do the needful.

Later in 2012, these companies were dragged to court of law over the same. The Internet companies on their part stood their ground and refused to comply with these terms. However, theGoogle Transparency Report points out to the increased request from government to take down objectionable content and even seek information pertaining to users account. We witnessed numerous instances of attempts to censor Internet right from arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and blocking of this site to blocking of sites by ISP over concerns of privacy, suspension of Twitter accounts allegedly for fanning rumours during the recent Assam violence and even arrests over posts on social networking sites. While India falls under ‘partially free’ category, when it comes to Internet freedom, the increasing attempts of surveillance and censorship have raised concerns amongst the Internet watchdog agencies around the world.

you are comparing molehill to a mountain here and this is telling

" Later in 2012, these companies were dragged to court of law over the same. The Internet companies on their part stood their ground and refused to comply with these terms."

Unlike what would happen in china, the company leaders would be shot dead

furthermore, most censorship , which still is wrong in my opinion- are about inciting violence and or national scare or slander from one citizen towards the other based on no evidence.

they don't ban for what you guys have ,as shown in my OP.

 

[JayAtl]

^^^ There is a saying "The 50 steps laughing at the 100 steps."

If you don;t know what it means, I don't blame you cause you have shown to be ignorant.

There is saying " Old Chinese saying is first approved by the CCP before you can say it"...

If you don't know the difference between the two censorships, then you show yourself to be just another 50 cent 'er

 

[chhota bheem]

before someone else drag India in let me say feel sorry for the ordinary chinese people.

 

[chhota bheem]

So the censorship is evoked whenever they want to hide the ugly truths ......

No, censorship is always there, blackout is evoked whenever they want to hide the ugly truths.

 

[dray]

^^^ There is a saying "The 50 steps laughing at the 100 steps."

If you don;t know what it means, I don't blame you, I blame you parents for bringing you into this world.

Refrain from such personal attack, did we blame whoever have brought you in the world?

And we hardly have any internet or media censorship, in fact these two things are exposing the corruption in Govt., Censorship in china is in a different league.

 

[armchairPrivate]

^^^ Read the news I post if you dare. What censorship?
With evidence right in your face you still lie.
What a culture? Who the pfuck are you to tell me what to do or not to do. Only a lowlife Yindo-man would deny facts.

 

[dray]

^^^ Read the news I post if you dare. What censorship?
With evidence right in your face you still lie.
What a culture? Who the pfuck are you to tell me what to do or not to do. Only a lowlife Yindo-man would deny facts.

Only a fcuking piglet will bring religion here. And who the a$$hole are you to distort the name of my religion?

 

[armchairPrivate]

^^^ haha May be you don;t have one. I surly got one.
May be your poo comes out from your mouth.

 

[dray]

^^^ haha May be you don;t have one. I surly got one.
May be your poo comes out from your mouth.

Yeah! That's the only thing you got.

 

[GR!FF!N]

@Adios Amigo @Jungibaaz @Manticore @nuclearpak @Rafael @T-Faz @Oscar @Zakii

shouldn't @armchairPrivate get proper treatment for starting a "Troll War" by posting an off topic??

 

[Wasim Aasim]

@Adios Amigo @Jungibaaz @Manticore @nuclearpak @Rafael @T-Faz @Oscar @Zakii

shouldn't @armchairPrivate get proper treatment for starting a "Troll War" by posting an off topic??

Report him..Someone will take action on it.

 

[edwardsnowden]

The "choice" is one.

A bit less free, a bit more control but growing steadily becomes more prosperous, has more development, richer, stronger,...

Or a bit freer, a bit less control but remains poor, backward, and often in chaotic situation...

The "choice" is one... i put the choice in double quotes because it's hardly a choice, for once a nation is in disorder, in particular the populous nation, it's quite difficult to turn over the table, the down spiral will usually cause a nation further down until its insignificance, or at best, in standstill condition! There are many examples of these down spiral nations today!

Today's world supremacy holder detests the strong, solid, unified command of such model of Chinese political system and leadership. They prefer to deal with the so-called "democratic" multiparty political system (or another political creature: a political dynasty as being practiced by many Asian nations, yeah perhaps some folks prefer to see some particular family control the entire fate of a nation: Gandhi, Bhutto, Aquino, etc) because the resulted govt is WEAKER and thus much easier to penetrate or compromise.
The word 'they' here is not just meant to be the other govt or country, in fact in today's globalized world, it means more about those giant Transnational Corporations, how they are able to co-opt or buy out the weak govts of many nations to serve better their vested interests... their insatiable greed! [Hint: read on at the link given at the bottom of this post,
"The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis".]

Indeed some farsighted minds predict that in future the nation-state will be taken over by the corporate state, the corporation will take over the government and be the actual ruler of the masses or people and eventually the entire world.
We are witnessing the trend in USA politics today whereas the corporation clouts are very strong through various lobby forces and campaign funding donations.

No wonder through the ample and mighty press machine under their controls (the so-called mainstream media or corporate media), they will lay down continuous attacks from any angle, from time to time, covert or openly, from one press to another, in concerted efforts to add up the amplifications to give the impression of widely covered issue (started from one side of Atlantic then echoed by the other side...it's kind of campaign technique often employed by the MSM to give added credibility to the news), all disguised in the themes of democracy, freedom, human rights.

In the past, the world establishment can afford to buy up the popular votes in their own societies through generous spending in various kinds of social welfare programs, entitlements, allowances to appease and pacify them. However, such generous spending is unsustainable. Later revelations show that indeed they do not have such own money to spend to buy up their democratic, free societies... they had to resort to DEBT to achieve such appeasement. Just sitting back for a while to witness how those govts deal with their people when the pool of fund for such entitlements are dried up.

Gentlemen, among others, what we're witnessing today in the Southern Europe (i.e. PIIGS) are the good example.
The SNAP / EBT / Food Stamps allowances in the USA are also another kind of good example, a kind of appeasement to pacify the 50 million over of population.
Luckily so far the USA have their own "fiat currency printing machine" to print all the "money" that they don't have.... I wish the rest of the world also have such world reserve currency magical printing press so they all can print to cover their asses while preaching about freedom, democracy, human rights to feed all the mouths at ease, at the other's burden...[and since all are printing then it must be the other planet's burden]

Btw the people in IRAQ and LIBYA are getting "much improved" and "better lives" today after being liberated by those freedom/democracy/human rights promoters... it's assumed that they can vote up their own govt freely to better cater their needs; the presstitudes in the West just unintentionally miss to cover the in-depth realities there today after such heroic, long awaited liberation... lol

Too bad, some are so blind to be able to see the harsh realities of the world today and still echoing the same meme as trumpeted and sold cheaply by the Western Presstitudes


HINT: read on Greg Palast's investigative report: "The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis" - http://bit.ly/1enHWZx

The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak's fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet. When you see 26.3% unemployment in Spain, desperation and hunger in Greece, riots in Indonesia and Detroit in bankruptcy, go back to this End Game memo, the genesis of the blood and tears.


____________
“We can evade reality, but we can not evade the consequences of evading reality.” - Ayn Rand

“We can ignore that approaching light, but we cannot avoid the devastation from the train smash.