China Breaks Pledge to Provide Unfiltered Web Access to Foreign Journalists

Reporters Without Borders has issued a guide on how to use proxy servers to circumvent China's Internet censorship during the Beijing Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged that the Chinese government was blocking foreign journalists access to Internet sites Chinese authorities consider politically sensitive. Chinese censorship contradicted pledges made earlier by IOC and Chinese officials that foreign journalists in China to cover the Olympic Games would have unfettered Web access. The IOC's acknowledgment apparently indicates its acceptance of the Chinese government's broken promise.

The IOC was informed of China's activities by foreign journalists, not the Chinese government, after journalists complained about Internet filtering. In IOC Allows China To Limit Reporters' Access to Internet, the Washington Post lists recent examples of reporters censored access to the Internet, including not being able to access (1) Amnesty International's recent report criticizing China's human rights record leading up to the Games; (2) Falun Gong sites without going through a proxy server; (3) Wikipedia's search engine; and  (4) the BBC's Chinese-language site.

The New York Times is recommending and making available for downloading, Freegate to "to secure and optimize users online activities" in China but that application will not override China's web filtering. [JH]