According to Reporters Without Borders the Chinese government has blocked the video-sharing Web site YouTube since Mar. 23 because of content critical of the Communist Party.Internet users have reported the site is inaccessible in most Chinese provinces.
Basically, a message pops up when trying to access the site that reads: “This page is not available. The Internet page corresponding to the address http://www.youtube.com is not accessible. The site may have changed its address.”
Google — which owns YouTube — said they are looking to restore access as soon as possible.
One of the main reasons for blocking the site portray videos showing the repression of the Tibetan population.
Another, which is called "Cao Ni Ma" (Grass Mud Horse), exploited the possibilities of defying government censorship.
A foreign ministry's spokesperson released a statement shortly after the site was blocked, saying that the Chinese government does not "fear the Internet."
But RWB is skeptical because they believe that the Chinese government would not block all websites — including YouTube — that are critical of the Communist Party if they didn't fear the Web.
RWB added that China currently has the world's largest number of Internet users, so to block a Web site is sending a negative message regarding free online expression in China.
YouTube has been blocked multiple times already in 2007 — Mar. 5-7 and all October.
The Communist Pary has a lot of control over audio and video-content on the Internet. New rules took effect in January 2008, which require permission to post video and audio files.
This isn't the first Google-owned service to be blocked by the government — Google’s Chinese-language search engine, Google.cn, has been censored since 2004.
SOURCES:
RSF
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