China, Censorship, and the Olympics

The Olympics, which kick off in three days, are attracting more attention than usual this year. One reason is the Internet censorship to which foreign journalists are being subjected during the Beijing games. Less than a week ago, it was reported that China would prevent access to web pages dealing with issues that the government deems overly sensitive, such as those involving Tibetan and Taiwanese independence. This seven years after China, in its bid to land the 2008 Olympics, declared that there would be "no restrictions on journalists in reporting the Olympic Games."

These restrictions are similar to those routinely imposed on Chinese citizens, a detailed analysis of which is available in the report on China in Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, which we published in March. The book grew out of the work of the OpenNet Initiative, which studies Internet filtering and surveillance.

ONI is monitoring the internet filtering in China during the Olympics, and promises frequent updates. Read all about it here.