June 2, 2009 Reports: China blocks Web sites ahead of Tiananmen anniversaryPosted: 11:17 AM ET
China has blocked access to some Web sites, including Twitter, the micro-blogging site, Hotmail's e-mail service and the photo-sharing site Flickr, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square protests, according to news reports. Pro-democracy protestors met Chinese military tanks in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The exact death toll of the crackdown was never released by the Chinese government. The photo above shows a 20-year-anniversary remembrance of the massacre in Hong Kong this week. Reuters says some Internet users in China are outraged by the apparent crackdown on online information:
The BBC writes that China "wants to make sure that there is no mention of the [Tiananmen Square] subject whatsoever." The Guardian says most Chinese Internet users rely on local state-monitored sites, so Twitter and other Western-developed social networks pose a threat. More on that point:
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Tuesday called for inquiries into the military crackdown on the protestors 20 years ago. From a news release from the human-rights advocacy group:
Follow the conversation about China's Web-site bans on Twitter by seaching for "China Blocks Twitter." And read more about China and its Internet policies in a CNN special report. Posted by: John D. Sutter -- CNN.com writer/producer |
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