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July 25, 2008 12:27:56 PM CDT

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China Wikipedia Access Not So Impressive

Posted Apr 7, 08 1:55 PM CDT in World,  Technology 

(Newser) – It's good for Chinese Internet users that the government has lifted bans on Wikipedia and Blogspot, but the move isn't the great breakthrough it may seem to be. If the policy change was intended to fulfill requests from the International Olympic Committee for an open internet, it falls well short of any actual freedom of information, writes Jacqui Cheng for Ars Technica.

Chinese surfers are used to sites flickering between banned and available, and remain wary of this recent change. Many users outside of big cities still can't access the newly allowed sites. The IOC's insistance on freedom of operation for foreign journalists during the Olympic Games means much more of the Great Firewall of China needs to come down, Cheng says.

Source Ars Technica

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Chinese internet surfers won't find any information about Tibetan protestors on the newsly allowed Wikipedia.   (Getty Images)
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, answers a question during an interview with the Associated Press in St. Petersburg, Fla. in this June 29, 2007 file photo.   (Associated Press)
Jacqui Cheng hopes that China's opening of Wikipedia and Blogspot wasn't intended as the country's sole answer to the IOC's requests for freer internet usage in the country.   (Getty Images)
Internet users in China can now access Wikipedia pages, though not this one.
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China  • 2008 Beijing Olympics  • Tibet  • Wikipedia  • International Olympic Committee  • Internet censorship  • Great Firewall of China


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