China Censors the Net

China apparently will continue to censor the Internet during August's Olympics, but says the international press will have the access it needs to function, Jacqui Cheng writes on Ars Technica. Officials said they would guarantee as much access “as possible,” but “controls on some unhealthy websites” would continue. In defense, they said, “every country limits access to some websites.” More »

The last-minute drama brewing in the runup to this summer's Olympic Games is of a more global and more personal nature than the infrastructure issues of Olympics past—and Chinese leaders are bristling under the scrutiny, the Chicago Tribune reports. But pride in the country's hosting gig remains strong, even among the impoverished workers who could never afford a ticket. More »

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. More »

Prodded by the International Olympic Committee, China has seemingly eased restrictions on the English-language version of Wikipedia, Reuters reports. But authorities continue to block access to articles related to sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square. Users in Shanghai and Beijing, the site of the summer Olympics, reported being able to view some pages on the popular web encyclopedia. More »

China's media outlets have been getting their information about the recent unrest in Tibet solely from the state-controlled news agency, Xinhua. As a result, most Chinese citizens are buying the government's handling of what has been portrayed as mob violence plotted from abroad—when it's been covered at all, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »

China shuttered 25 video-sharing websites today and warned numerous others, as authorities moved to enforce stricter controls on online content announced late last year, Reuters reports. Chinese video heavyweight Tudou.com was among those that received a warning to eliminate pornographic and political material. "We're working hard to upgrade our systems to catch everything that needs to be caught," said Tudou’s VP. More »

The EU is out to hack down the Great Firewall of China, Ars Technica reports. A new proposal would classify the web censorship China and other oppressive regimes employ as a trade barrier, an approach its creator calls “unusual, but effective.” The measure already sailed through the European Parliament 571-38, and now awaits European Council confirmation. More »

China took down 44,000 porn websites last year, arrested 868 people, and penalized 2,000 others. The Public Security Ministry said today that Internet pornography has “perverted China’s young minds,” the AP reports. Porn and paid sex are illegal in almost all forms in the country; the crackdown involved the seizure of cash and film equipment. More »

China is cracking down on its booming, billion-dollar online game industry, which is seen as “spiritual opium” that threatens to hook the Chinese people, Reuters reports. The government today said it plans to regulate “undesirable” elements out of the game, which 41 million Chinese played this year. “The whole industry is marginalized by mainstream society,” one senior official said. More »

More than 50 municipal inspectors beat to death an onlooker filming a confrontation between government officials and villagers in central China, CNN reports, sparking renewed criticism of China's press-freedom record. The head of the city administration bureau was fired today, reports the state news agency Xinhua, as authorities reacted quickly to forestall larger protests. The incident has set Chinese chat rooms ablaze. More »

Chinese searchers trying to visit Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Live Search are being redirected to the Chinese search engine Baidu, according to tech news sources. Speculation has it that the Chinese government is blocking the American engines because officials are angry that the US awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal this week. More »

Beijing police have an answer for Internet users who might be tempted to gamble or watch the Paris Hilton sex video: an animated officer who moves across your screen in a virtual car, motorcycle or on foot while admonishing you to steer clear of illegal content. The cartoon alerts will appear every half-hour on China’s 13 main portals starting Sept. 1, the AP reports. More »

Frustration with government curbs on the Internet is growing among China's 140M web users. Wikipedia has been banned, and the censors recently shuttered photo-sharing web site Flickr, after a user uploaded a picture of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Tens of thousands of human monitors and an elaborate filter system keep watch over China's browsers. More »

A new breed of journalist is evolving out of China’s censored media: the web-based hired gun. The Washington Post reports on freelance muckrakers who investigate corruption the mainstream press can't touch and post the results on their sites. They're paid—if meagerly—by the aggrieved parties. More »