China Censoring Flickr

An anonymous reader writes "It would appear that the Chinese government is currently censoring all photos on the site Flickr. A notice has been posted in a Flickr help forum about this, but the service currently doesn't have a fix for this. It would appear that China has turned on their Golden Shield Project to censor the site. 'Jain Hua Li, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he hadn't heard of Flickr until told about it in a conversation with a Chronicle reporter, and then suggested that the blocking may be because Chinese authorities are trying to protect children from racy images. Lucie Morillon, the U.S. representative for Reporters Without Borders, a French group that promotes free expression, said that the Beijing government often censors Web sites under the guise of protecting children or national security. She called the blocking of Flickr "one more blow against the free flow of information online by Chinese authorities" and added that it is particularly lamentable in light of promises by China to loosen restrictions before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.' Thomas Hawk has a well-considered opinion to offer on this issue."

Comments

Come on China,

[Apple Acolyte]

Stop giving dictatorial US law and policy makers new ideas!

Re:Come on China,

[Vicissidude]

Not only have US leaders thought of this, but they've already tried putting it into practice. Does no one remember the Communications Decency Act which passed into law and was eventually shot down by the Supreme Court? Every couple of years there's something new that they want to ban from adults due to "for the children" arguments.

Re:Come on China,

[Ash Vince]

I notice the moronic mods are out in force.

I actually thought the first post was quite funny but I suppose anyone suggesting that the US govt might like to censor anything is offensive to some people. The reality is that the US goverment and certain states in particular have a long history of censorship.

As usual, wikipedia has a pretty decent page on the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_Uni ted_States

I am not saying that the US is as bad as China, but no government is above trying to censor things they dont aggree with for any number of reasons.

Re:Come on China,

[WilliamSChips]

An amendment to CDA banned all discussion of abortion on the Internet. Remember that they first came for the Communists because everybody hated Communists. Hopefully somebody will speak up when they come for you.

Thank God that wouldn't happen in the US

[illumnatLA]

Censorship under the guise of protecting our children or national security. Thank god that stuff only happens in China and not here in the United States...
Oh... er...
...nevermind

Not News

[tarogue]

China censors the internet. It's what they do. How about an article of what China is *not* censoring?

Olympics will be exempt

[r00t]

That area of the country, for the time period of the games, will be treated differently. It'll look great. You'll be able to sit in your hotel room and view all the stuff you want. (pro-Tibetian Falon Gong porn, whatever...)

The rest of the country? No.

A month later? No.

BTW, don't check your business email or log in to the corporate VPN from China. You know the story: "all your trade secrets are blong to us".

If you don't like the Chinese Government...

[Anonymous Coward]

... Don't watch the Olympics. Let the media carrying the Olympics know that you're boycotting them, and will try to get others to join the cause vs. Chinese censorship. Try to avoid purchasing goods made in China, or from companies with close relationships with China. Otherwise, they'll continue to do what they want with all the money the West sends them...

Shorter list

[aztektum]

Let's compile one of things China won't censor and save time

The Reason is Obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

A couple of days ago was the anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre. Several major sites were carrying a story about a Flickr album depicting the event. No doubt the Chinese Communist Party censors picked up on it and decided to block.

How much longer?

[nurb432]

How much longer will we ( the world ) continue to ignore their own moral issues with China in return for cheap goods? A long long long time.

Re:there is something greater in importance

[JesseMcDonald]

Ummm, the chinese have a *right* to live however they want

Exactly. The individual Chinese have every right to live however they want, until they try to force their preferences onto others, or make threats against them. If some (or all) of them don't want to be censored, they have every right not to be.

Using Censorship against them

[BillGatesLoveChild]

Seems if you want something not to be pirated in China, how about adding extras like the Dalai Lama, Falon Gong or Tiananmen Square? Software makers, be sure to feature a Falon Gong extra in the tutorials. Movie makers: How about a cameo by the Dalai Lama in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Google Maps: when you zoom in on Tiananmen, show perspective mapped photos of what really happened.

Seriously: I have a friend who just got back from a visit in China. He said the Communist Party is very scared about losing its grip on society. They've very, very worried about losing control. Something you haven't heard in the mainstream media: Chinese, particularly the poorer ones, are really sick of the rich getting richer. When the Chinese Government wants to build a road, they pick a poor area, flatten it and kick the poor locals out. Increasingly, people are getting sick of it and the government is worried: This is why they're banning things left, right and center: http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/2275.asp http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK165285 .htm http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/world/asia/21cnd -china.html?ex=1337400000&en=578ee101ec63e955&ei=5 090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss