China blocks YouTube over Tibet protests
The great firewall of China seemingly strikes again
YouTube, the world's most popular video-hosting site, has been blocked in China.
Visitors to the site in many parts of the Communist country have not been able to access content since Monday night.
While there is no official reason for the block, the BBC believes that it is to do with video footage of Tibetan protesters violently clashing with police.
As Reuters points out, this month does mark the one-year anniversary of the much-publicised protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule in Beijing.
This is not the first time that China has blocked sites like YouTube. It was also banned back in October 2007.
Among the list of websites still currently blocked by China is the New York Times and MySpace Videos.
False impression
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Despite claims that YouTube is blocked, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement this week saying that the country wasn't afraid of the internet.
"China's internet is open enough, but also needs to be regulated by law in order to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
"Many people have a false impression that the Chinese government fears the internet. In fact it is just the opposite."
Gang could not confirm or deny whether access to YouTube in China had been banned.
Via BBC
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.