Circumventing the Great Firewall of China
Via Dan Nystedt at PC World, the Great Firewall of China is trying to block out news of the Tibet riots:
China has blocked access to Google News and YouTube in an apparent attempt to stop the spread of video footage related the rioting going on in several cities in Tibet, including the capital Lhasa. Demonstrations in the city started on March 10, a day commemorating the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule after which the spiritual leader of the country, theDalai Lama, fled to India.
China has said the Dalai Lama is to blame for rioting in the country, and puts the civilian death toll at 13, while adding that police and security forces have also suffered casualties.
The Dalai Lama has denied involvement in the rioting, and said he has “no such power to stop it,” in a video of a recentnews conferenceposted on his Web site.
“Whether the Chinese government admits it or not, there is a problem,” he said “The Tibetan nation, an ancient nation with an ancient cultural heritage, is actually dying.”
China’s decision to block access to the sites follows similar government censorship of protests by Myanmar. Last September, Myanmar cut off Internet access entirely to block people from viewing pictures and videos or sending them out of the country. Some analysts at the time said the protests likely spread through the help of the Web, in addition to winning global condemnation of the violent crackdown on protesters there.
Two videos about the situations in Tibet posted on YouTube by the user Amdo2007 both appear to show peaceful demonstrations. Thefirstshows a public gathering, including Tibetan monks in their distinctive saffron robes, while the secondvideoshows what appears to be peaceful marching.
Some videos, includingonefrom Amdo2007, have been “flagged by YouTube’s user community” so that users have to verify they are 18 or older by logging in or signing up. The video shows bodies on the streets, protesters throwing rocks at Chinese army vehicles and other images. It may have the most hits, over 80,000 so far, on the subject.
Here is Amdo2007’s YouTube channel.
And the video of the protest in Lhasa:
Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica reports on China Internet users’ savvy:
Our own tests this morning with WebSitePulse’s China firewall tester have only yielded a block on youtube.com thus far—the other sites’ home pages (and some specific articles about Tibet) appear to be going through. As we know, though, China’s firewall doesn’t always filter everything all the time, and may be implemented differently in different areas of the country. Sites that appear accessible in Shanghai right now might not be accessible in Beijing, and something that’s accessible in China’s capital may mysteriously “disappear” later on. Researchers at UC Davis’ department of Computer Science found that the firewall would accidentally allow banned terms through about 28 percent of the time, particularly during high-traffic times.
The problem with these arbitrary blocks is that users are increasingly aware of them. Posts made to Danwei.org, a site about Chinese media, show that Chinese Internet users not only know which sites are being blocked at which times, but why. “Youtube is blocked in China as of 22:45, Beijing time. See no evil, hear no evil…” wrote one poster, with others confirming the disconnect and pointing out that it “has a lot to do with Tibet.” Another poster noted in a thread about YouTube and other news sources being blocked, “This govt officials should get a life and deal with reality!”
Given the Chinese government’s fickle attitude towards the filtering the websites of international media, we’ll venture a guess that the block on YouTube will eventually be lifted once the Tibetan dust begins to clear online. But each bit of additional filtering only raises the profile of China’s filtering activities in the eyes of its Internet users. Maintaining the Great Firewall of China will become increasingly challenging as more of China’s massive population gets online.
Information just wants to be free.
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I’m in the IT security biz. The Chinese government has their work cut out for them….the user/citizen will always find a way around the great wall…
The Onion Router is your friend, unless you’re trying to block stuff.
The only issue is the Chinese Govt. is running a few exit points and the last I heard they could track back.
What will be interesting is when the Olympics begin. How will the Chinese Gov keep a lid on things at that time? My expectation is that you won’t be able to escape seeing protests, big and small, through all of the many events.
My recommendation is that anyone planning on attending the Olympics in China is that they know where the nearest Embassy, American or other, is located. Just in case.
what i don’t understand about these types of things is when they happen in the eyes of the world The US is still portrayed as the worst place on earth??
trailortrash-
It’s because we are Western and we can’t possibly compare to the rich, beautiful and ancient culture of China.
That hurt my hands to type out.
Wonder what GOOGLE will have imposed on its connections now that it has ‘cooperated with’ China ?????????
I’d love to see the U.S. and other countries boycott the Olympics.
Free Taiwan.
Strange how moonbats howl in protest over FISA but won’t bat an eye over real censorship.
Everyone’s Internet usage is tracked. Every ISP (comcast, charter, time warner etc.) has router logs of all the activity for every user which contains all the Web sites visited and so forth. Certainly these aren’t readily viewable by just anybody and are highly complex, but the point is that the information IS available. Beyond this, there’s no telling where the NSA or other government agencies, and non-governmental spooks, may have tapped into the network. I have no doubt that there’s a whole of “listening” going on. Right now we’re still in a free country, but there’s no telling how and when our Internet usage might be used against us. Who knows? Elliot Spitzer might be just the first domino to fall…when the morality police come a knocking on the door….
The China Olympics are being boycotted by many athletes who do not wish to harm their health by participating in the air quality of Beijing! I wouldn’t suggest anyone with asthma or other lung illnesses attend. It’s downright dangerous…Oh, btw, did you hear AlGore touting how China is leading the world in “green” adherence?
If I go to China, there’s no way I’ll stay in Beijing. I”ll be heading north. Traffic is bad enough in normal times. With tens of thousands of tourists, not to mention the Kamikazi Kab Korps, the last place I want to be is down there.
Since my wife is planning to go back for a visit, and if my job situation improves, I may head over there myself.
What will have the biggest impact on the Beijing Olympics this year… Tibet or the pollution?
One prominent distance athlete has already dropped out of the men’s Olympic marathon because of pollution concerns. He was a favorite to medal. Story on Haile Gebrselassie here. The defending women’s tennis gold medalist from Athens 2004, Justine Henin, will not be in Beijing for the competition because of the pollution either.
I’m against a boycott by western nations from Europe and the Americas. Some ideas for athletes from western countries to protest the violence in Tibet are to carry Tibetan flags in the opening ceremony, after any gold medal winning performance carry their country’s flag with the Tibetan flag in celebration and bring the Tibetan flag to any medal ceremonies. This would irk the Chinese government to no end.
If I make the USA track & field team this summer and by the grace of God win my event I’ll have a huge Tibetan flag in my parade lap around the track.
Meat,If we don’t stay hard core Sharia law won’t allow much internet or free speach.
Well said Hefty on # 9.
I agree, boycotting the Olympics will only have a negative effect. It would be best to be there and be able to have us see exactly what conditions are present. Boycotting will only fuel anti-American propaganda. I have a feeling these games will be embarrassing to the Chinese. Let us all know how you do, Olympian2008. We want regular reports.
I agree to a large extent, but the only thing you missed was the fact that Spitzer was the morality police. At least in his mind. That is why the irony of his alleged crimes and subsequent resignation were so delicious!