Wikipedia
Most English language pages on Wikipedia became accessible in China late last week

Wikipedia partly unblocked in China

Chinese language version and politically sensitive pages still unavailable

Simon Burns in Taipei

Sources in China have reported that the English language version of Wikipedia is no longer blocked for internet users inside the country, after being unavailable for most of the past 18 months.

However, the Chinese language edition of Wikipedia remains inaccessible in China.

Advertisement

Most English language pages on Wikipedia became accessible late last week, according to bloggers across China, but some pages remained blocked by China's official firewall. 

These include references to 'sensitive' topics, such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square where a pro-democracy demonstration was violently suppressed in 1989.

Some other foreign news websites are also partly blocked. Google News appears to be dynamically blocked when certain keywords appear, but fully accessible at other times, and it seems that Wikipedia may now be monitored by the same automatic keyword detection software.

Other sites are blocked based on domain name. For example, news.bbc.co.uk is blocked while www.bbc.co.uk is not. 

Both the Chinese and English language versions of Wikipedia were first blocked in parts of China in 2004, and all Wikipedia sites have been blocked since late 2005.

The ban has been relaxed briefly on occasions, for example in November 2006, and then re-imposed. It is unclear whether this temporary lifting of restrictions has been deliberate, or caused by technical problems.

Many experienced internet users in China circumvent the so-called 'Great Firewall of China' by making use of proxy servers outside the country to read blocked pages.

While the country's internet authorities do not normally comment on the blocking of individual websites, restrictions are sometimes officially attributed to vaguely expressed 'security concerns'.

Chinese laws include very broad blanket restrictions on internet activity which effectively ban almost any behaviour that might be interpreted as hostile to the government.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Share

Tags:

Do you agree?

Further reading

Conservapedia takes on Wikipedia 'bias'

For when facts are just too left wing

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales

Contributor scandal rocks Wikipedia

'Essjay' episode could change makeup of user-driven encyclopaedia

Wikipedia founder plans search engine

Open source search would let users tweak code

Wikipedia 'broken beyond repair' says co-founder

Sanger speaks after launch of rival site

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Most watched

V3.co.uk weekly debrief, 13 Nov 09

This week we discuss the inaugural V3.co.uk Summit

Summit: Salesforce.com on SaaS and information overload

How web services contribute to data headaches

Analysis and Reports

Remote access - Three steps to getting connected

3.4 million UK professionals now work from home – is your company equipped?

Cost benefits of a global collaboration network

This white paper is a must read for organisations looking for evidence of the bottom-line benefits of high-definition video and voice communications

Poll

Impact of Information Overload poll

Impact of Information Overload poll

What is the biggest problem your firm faces as a result of the data explosion?

View poll results

Advertisement

White paper library

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Spotlight

V3.co.uk weekly debrief, 13 Nov 09

This week we discuss the inaugural V3.co.uk Summit

Fingers on keyboard

New Flash vulnerability discovered

Web sites could be vulnerable to Flash attacks

Chris Adams

Summit: Microsoft Office to the rescue

Chris Adams, Office Client product manager for Microsoft UK, explains...

Illegal downloader

Industry and human rights campaigners united in opposition to "three strikes" plan

Critics says government proposals to curb illegal downloading are unworkable...

Primary Navigation