OpenNet Initiative Reports on Internet Filtering in China
  

21.08.08 - Research published by OpenNet Initiative says that more than 50 Web sites related to news, human rights, and pro-Tibet groups were blocked in Beijing and in the Olympics' Main Press Center as the Games were about to begin.

OpenNet Initiative, an academic partnership that studies Internet censorship issues, said that a small handful of sites were made available on 1 August, after journalists complained that access at the press center was being restricted.

OpenNet Initiative, which described its testing as a "snapshot of Internet filtering in China leading up to week one of the Olympics," found a range of sites blocked. They included news sites such as China Digital Times; those affiliated with press freedom causes, such as Reporters Without Borders and CPJ; and sites associated with human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in China, and the Dui Hua Foundation, which advocates on behalf of political detainees.

Internet censorship in China is highly sophisticated but is incomplete and subject to change. While CPJ's Web site has been largely inaccessible during the Games, according to numerous sources, two journalists said that they were able to access it at times.

Beijing explicitly promised journalists freedom to report in its bid to host the Games in 2001 and said when the press centers opened that no filtering would be applied at Games venues.

Despite the restrictions, OpenNet Initiative has noted that the Olympics brought "incrementally increased openness" to Beijingers. Although it is not clear how long the greater accessibility will last, city residents can now read an unusually large number of overseas-hosted Chinese language sites such as Wikipedia, the report says.

To access OpenNet Initiative's pages on China, please visit: http://opennet.net/country/china

To access CPJ's webiste, please visit: http://cpj.org/