Web restriction in China

Government blocked numbers of websites related to human rights. It is because Obama came. All these make me membered the period of Olympic Games. The government did the same thing. They kept restriction on Internet during Beijing Olympic Games has increased heavily compare with other period of time.

Throughout the Olympic Games in Beijing across the country have increased and intensified its repression and control of human rights defenders, including religious people, ethnic minorities, lawyers and journalists. The authorities maintain strict control over information on Internet, many Internet sites blocked. Journalists and Internet users were warned by the authorities. They were prohibited for peaceful expression of their views.

Two weeks before the Olympic Games, the government was established three "protest zone" in Beijing’s park, allowing people to protest. It is too late but glad that China finally have legal areas for speech. However, no indications have shown that any one had received official permission, and carried out protests in protest zone, till now these three areas is still empty. According to Constitution of the People’s Republic of China Article 35, citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration. Nevertheless, the liberalization of “protest zone” is still doubtful. The first reason is whether the permission was executed. The application procession of protest might be complicated and long. It is hard to say when the applier could get the permission. The second reason is whether citizens trust the government. Protestor would probably afraid to go to the protest zone, because long repression of government.
More than 20 Chinese journalists have been prohibited of engaging in journalistic activities during the Olympic Games, this figure is more than any other country in the world. About 20,000 accredited journalists plan to Beijing. However, some of them had been denied, because they failed to explain the reasons for visa.

Since January 1, 2007, foreign journalists had released by restriction of interview in China. New temporary regulations had been under way. It gave foreign journalists the permission of doing investigation and interviews outside Beijing. While in the past, all foreign journalists could do report only after authorizing by China’s government. The new regulations outlined the rights of journalists: “to interview organizations or individuals in China, foreign journalists need only to obtain their prior consent.”The ambiguity of the regulations is whether it also applies to Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions. The result is by April 2009, “the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) had logged more than 50 incidents of police harassing reporters in Tibetan areas.” The interference not only refers to freedom of expression, but also the human rights.

A number of internet websites was blocked during the Olympic Games. “Internet users and journalists were at risk of harassment and imprisonment for addressing politically sensitive topics. Numerous people were detained and put under surveillance in connection with their applying for permission to protest.” When the Olympics Games arrived, the government was so indifferent to the freedom of expression. They blocked and filtered at least 50 websites, including foreign news, human rights, and other websites related to pro-Tibet, according to OpenNet Initiative.