By Kendra Srivastava | Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:45 pm
China today blocked the Google+ social network just one day after its limited release, drawing attention to the country's censorship practices that may try to prevent social uprisings.
Chinese officials have banned citizens from accessing Google's fledgling social network, Google+, according to watchdog sites JustPing and Greatfirewallofchina.org.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has yet to respond to China's action, though this step seems to prove chairman Eric Schmidt's earlier remarks warning that governments are increasingly clamping down on Internet freedoms, citing China as a prime example of online censorship.
"There are countries where it is illegal to do things that Google encourages," Schmidt said. "In those countries, there is a real possibility of employees being put in prison for reasons which are not their fault."
The Chinese government's swiftness in axing Google's latest experiment has less to do with Google specifically and more to do with how concerned it is about the power social networks wield in organizing anti-government protests.
China already blocks Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare, and perhaps for good reason, given that Facebook recently fueled Vietnamese protests against China's involvement in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Beijing also started tracking its citizens' geolocations in March, citing a need to study traffic patterns, though some wonder if the city will use its mapping power to keep tabs on dissidents and protestors.
China censors its Internet partly due to fears of uprisings. Egyptians and Tunisians organized their protests using Facebook and Twitter, driving crowds into the streets and ultimately wrestling power from entrenched dictators. In Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain too, among others, social media has been instrumental in orchestrating political uprisings.
Facebook recently downplayed its role in the demonstrations.
Understandably, these countries' rulers have been less than happy with the Internet's power to gather crowds against them and have put restrictions in place. But if Internet censorship temporarily suppresses rebellion, it can have dire long-term consequences.
Former Egyptian President Hosnai Mubarak and his supporters discovered this when a judge slapped them with a $91 million total fine for blacking out telecoms during the Egyptian uprisings. In Iran, too, people have been protesting against the government's plan to create an internal online network that would block outside websites. And hackers recently targeted Turkey for planning to restrict its Internet starting this August.
The U.N. recently declared unrestricted Internet access to be a fundamental human right, putting it in under the same large umbrella as food and water.
Although China prevents people from accessing social networks like Facebook and Google+ now, the Arab Spring suggests its censorship may not last forever. The harder governments try to control the Internet, it seems, the more people seek to break free.
China today blocked the Google+ social network just one day after its limited release, drawing attention to the country's censorship practices that may try to prevent social uprisings.
Chinese officials have banned citizens from accessing Google's fledgling social network, Google+, according to watchdog sites JustPing and Greatfirewallofchina.org.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has yet to respond to China's action, though this step seems to prove chairman Eric Schmidt's earlier remarks warning that governments are increasingly clamping down on Internet freedoms, citing China as a prime example of online censorship.
"There are countries where it is illegal to do things that Google encourages," Schmidt said. "In those countries, there is a real possibility of employees being put in prison for reasons which are not their fault."
The Chinese government's swiftness in axing Google's latest experiment has less to do with Google specifically and more to do with how concerned it is about the power social networks wield in organizing anti-government protests.
China already blocks Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare, and perhaps for good reason, given that Facebook recently fueled Vietnamese protests against China's involvement in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Beijing also started tracking its citizens' geolocations in March, citing a need to study traffic patterns, though some wonder if the city will use its mapping power to keep tabs on dissidents and protestors.
China censors its Internet partly due to fears of uprisings. Egyptians and Tunisians organized their protests using Facebook and Twitter, driving crowds into the streets and ultimately wrestling power from entrenched dictators. In Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain too, among others, social media has been instrumental in orchestrating political uprisings.
Facebook recently downplayed its role in the demonstrations.
Understandably, these countries' rulers have been less than happy with the Internet's power to gather crowds against them and have put restrictions in place. But if Internet censorship temporarily suppresses rebellion, it can have dire long-term consequences.
Former Egyptian President Hosnai Mubarak and his supporters discovered this when a judge slapped them with a $91 million total fine for blacking out telecoms during the Egyptian uprisings. In Iran, too, people have been protesting against the government's plan to create an internal online network that would block outside websites. And hackers recently targeted Turkey for planning to restrict its Internet starting this August.
The U.N. recently declared unrestricted Internet access to be a fundamental human right, putting it in under the same large umbrella as food and water.
Although China prevents people from accessing social networks like Facebook and Google+ now, the Arab Spring suggests its censorship may not last forever. The harder governments try to control the Internet, it seems, the more people seek to break free.
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