Huffington Post Blocked in Mainland China

As the Chinese government begins its pre-Olympics media crackdown, the Huffington Post appears to be the latest victim in a recent wave of Internet censorship. A HuffPost reader in Shanghai reported Tuesday that when she attempted to connect to the site, an error page all too familiar to Net users in China loaded instead. The page says there is an "error" -- the same "error" that has accompanied the loading of BBC News, CBC News, Wikipedia, YouTube, and all other sites deemed "sensitive" that have been blocked periodically in recent years. Numerous other sources in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou confirmed that as of early Friday morning in China, HuffPost remains blocked on the mainland.

Chinese officials never explain, or even announce, when or why they block and unblock certain sites. However, Internet censorship has historically coincided with either major national events such as Communist Party meetings, or times of political unrest, like the riots earlier this year in Tibet. When citizen-produced videos and photographs emerged from Tibet in March, China restricted YouTube and some user-driven photo sites. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, a mere seven weeks away, serves as China's newest reason, and best yet, to tighten the reins on news, opinion, images and video from outside that appears on the Web.

Earlier this week, many sites that are part of the MTV Networks were taken offline in mainland China, including ComedyCentral.com, parts of VH1's site, Nick.com and the individual sites for The Daily Show and the Colbert Report. As one China-based blogger explained to HuffPost, "It seems to be an IP (Internet protocol) block rather than a site-specific block. Only those MTV-owned sites hosted on a particular server seem to be affected. Others, including MTV.com and MTVChina.com, not on the same server, are still accessible." With the block of a server, as opposed to an individual site, one cannot be certain which of the sites was targeted by Chinese censors. The blogger went on to say, "It's impossible to know what the exact reason for blocking these sites is, but it still amounts to censorship, and cuts Chinese netizens' access to quality programming otherwise unavailable in China."

As for America's "Internet newspaper," the Huffington Post, all it takes is one news story, blog post, photo or even a comment to set off the alarms in China's Ministry of Information.

With the Olympics quickly approaching, China's government seems to be controlling the flow of information as tightly as ever and in doing so, reneging on its promise to the International Olympic Committee back in 2001. During the selection process for the 2008 Summer Games, Beijing vowed to espouse new ideals of democracy and human rights, adopting the motto "New Beijing, Great Olympics."

The Olympics might be "great" yet. But what is "new" in Beijing, like the inability to access the Huffington Post, the Daily Show or Colbert, isn't so "great" for Olympic organizers, human rights groups or even your average web user in China. Glen Wong, an American fashion designer currently in south China for work said Thursday, "I love coming to China, but it becomes stressful never knowing what sites are or aren't blocked, where I'll be able to get my news, watch video or whatever else."

As Wong put it, "China ain't the same without my HuffPost."

Read more HuffPost coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Comments

[KBAR]

Wait till Chairman Barry hears about THIS!

[Sanity01]

BUSH MADE THEM DO IT!! It's Bush's fault!!!!!!

[emerywood]

What else is new ? It's all done in the name of homeland security.
They have their censoring of what they think is dangerous to their people, we have eve-dropping, shoe searching, phone tapping, finger printing and custom tightening in every airport.
We have a war on terror. They have a war on survival.

[Rolley]

As bad as the US has become under Bush, you make a mockery of the real problems the Chinese face by making this glib comparison.

[bronceye]

I am personally happy about this restriction. Some of the comments on HuffPo(I read it every day and enjoy it) are very painful to read. Both right and left, as they get caught up in personal destruction and name calling, seem to be very myopic, self centered, mindless morons. It would be embarrassing to think that the world sees this "insight" of American non-thought process. Some of you people make me sick. At least, that's my myopic, self centered, moronic thoughts of some of you(very mindful, though). Babble amongst yourselves.

[only1Demvoter]

Well... This reeks to high heaven.

Maybe large multi - national organizations, such as the Olympic Commission, should dangle the opportunity to host The Games in front of their ( oppressive governments ) collective noses. ( Like a carrot. )

In order to reap the benefits of holding / hosting such an event, the country in question must, at least attempt to appear progressive.


More to follow. -ralph

[Belisarius]

In the worker's paradise, government bureaucrats decide what workers should read, hear, view, etc. In paradise, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.

Ask a pig.

[CaseyBabes]

Hmmm, smart people those Chinese knowing how to prevent the spread of liberal polution.

[drumz]

Yea, versus the bu$h admin propaganda that faux news spews here. Just remember that Jesus was a liberal.

[CaseyBabes]

Umm yeaf, how about that, they just don't make Jews like Jesus anymore.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

So you admit you're an extremist in the communist/fascist sense?

Wow, most of you guys at least pay lip service to democracy.

[TakeSake]

You are free to move there.

You could also take it upon yourself to avoid this "pollution".

Or perhaps you like being "polluted"?

Strange, indeed.

[CCW4ME2]

You have to give the People's Republic of China their due. They don't give a f*ck about what the liberals in Hollywood or anyplace else think. Hey, maybe they ain't so bad after all.

[drumz]

bbut your king ronnie was a hollywood elitist wasn't he? And how about Fred Thompson? So hypocrisy seems to rule in your corner.

[CaseyBabes]

The subject was China and censorism.­...thought you guys love to expound on isms. On second thought, that type of favorite comes after the use of the word hypocrisy. Never mind.

[darthdarcy]

Pretty soon Huffington will be blocked in Texas too watch and see..

[darthdarcy]

It speaks volumes to Huffington's credit that the Red Chinese are censoring it and her...

[only1Demvoter]

darcy : Yes, it does !!

( As one of President Obama's first official acts... ) : Arianna for The Medal of Freedom !!


More to follow. -ralph

[pfc1369]

"Red" Chinese?

Wake up. It's not 1976.

China has become a capitalists dream (read: real cheap labor), not exactly the dream of Marx, Mao, and the boys.

More the dream of Alan Greenspan.

[PhillyQuaker]

Red Chinese = Chinese Govt. that makes the streets run red with blood of its own people - not to mention 50,000 dogs.

http://network.bestfriends.org/animalworldusa/news/6435.html

[VictorLudorum]

our chinese friend has reported well,but she will be getting her Huffpo in the email and also her fan news ..........­..........­........Hu­ffpo is better passively stronger ,like the woman that leads it than a ruffian who would like to high roll... The chinese perhaps just gave us. importance' or like the Dalai Lama perhaps they are inviting Ariana to beijing...­..!

[Economike]

BOYCOTT IT

[StopCensoringMe]

So, tell me (if you choose to post this), how does it feel to have the shoe on YOUR foot?

I have been a loyal reader and poster to this site since its inception. Many of my early posts were selected as "Best of" by the readers. But, for a reason that no one there chose to address, my original screen name was "banned" from Huffington although I did not engage in personal attacks, ad hominen attacks, profound language or any of the other vague reasons you provide for such action. So, I created this screen name which also gets regularly rejected from making comments. I also see similar and numerous complaints from other posters I recognize as regulars. Remember, the thing that separates this site from Drudge are the posters. We add real value to your recycled content. I believe we need some relief from the capricious actions of the "Communist China" approach to site moderation here. How about creating a specific and detailed list of reasons for censoring a post or banning a member and making available to all and standing firmly behind it without the whims of whoever has their "finger on the dump button" today? Then to make it all truly transparent, appoint an Ombudsperson position who actually responds to (what should then be rare) poster complaints and concerns.

Arianna are you listening?

Karma. It's a bear.

[hopeless277]

Today China, tomorrow America. You don't think all those censorship programs developed by Google and Microsoft are just for Communists, do you?

[Zenobius]

Hi,

The ability to block packets coming from a particular server or IP address {technically a server can have more than one IP address, but we'll ignore that here}, is not new. It's been around since the first firewalls came out in the early 1990's}. If the reader who communicated with HuffPo is right, all China has done is instruct the people running the routers at the border of China's links to the internet to block {technically, DROP} IP packets coming from the server HuffPo is on. This does not require any software developed by Google in the last ten years.

What Google has done is to agree to cooperate with Chinese Government , by blocking certain sites, blogs, etc earlier in the process, within China. This is reprehensible, but if it wanted to, China could decide that all of Google is undesirable, and award its Chinese search business to Yahoo by the expedient of filtering out all packets from Google. By doing so, Google prevents its other users, and Google itself, from being impacted when a small numer of users annoy the Chinese government.

The US could probably, if it wanted to, filter out foreign sites the same way. But the government has less control over the internet border here, and there is so much criticism inside the US that it simply isn't worth filtering out the Guardian, the Independent, Tehelka, etc. Domestic sites are harder to censor.

[marlovian]

Speaking of censorship, why is HuffPo not covering this story?

Muslim calls out Obama after being snubbed at rally:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/NEWS06/806190376/&imw=Y

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

That's a tough one...but I would have blocked them too, right or wrong.

If they hadn't blocked those scarves, I can assure you that THAT would be the main story in the corporate media for the next 5 months. Frankly just not worth the grief.

To be clear, it's not fair, but that's the way it is. These ladies have every right to be angry, but they should direct at least some of their justifiable anger towards the extremists who have hijacked their religion and made it unpalatable in an election setting.

I may get set upon for saying this, but that's how I see it. Just not worth the grief.

[Rolley]

Just not worth the grief? Wow. Just 10 years ago, some might have said that about nominating a black candidate. Is this how we're going to get change?

[MsLiz]

Yeah, the freepers and Fox are so disappointed not to get that photo of Obama with the women wearing hajibs.

I hope the volunteers do the same thing again, just more discreetly. These women were not deprived of an opportunity to hear the speaker, they were deprived of a seat behind him where they would be on national TV.