China ramps up firewall

Analysts have held the Chinese Government responsible for increased online restrictions in the run up to the celebration of its 60 years of communist rule.

Some web users have seen their free proxy services, which allowed them to access sites blocked by government censors, wiped out in the run-up to October 1. Analysts said such an action could only be carried out by the government.

Social websites such as Facebook and Twitter that were blocked after riots in Xinjiang in July, and sensitive sites including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International were inaccessible in China yesterday.

Michael Anti, a China-based media analyst, said: "The authorities have upgraded the technology to block these and have been trying to block any free proxy and VPN over the past week."

China, which has the world's largest online population of at least 338 million users, regularly blocks internet content it deems unhealthy. China is reported to regularly crack down on online activity and activists ahead of sensitive events.

"It's because of the 60th anniversary, which is a very critical task for them," said Anti, adding those who paid for proxies and VPNs had not been affected.

Such content includes information critical of the government, under a censorship system dubbed the "Great Firewall of China".

News assistants working for foreign news organisations have been targeted by e-mail viruses, said the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China.

Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based China researcher for Human Rights Watch, said it was not clear who was behind the cyber-attacks on journalists, but said he only saw a few options.

 

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