Censorship of Internet and Foreign News Broadcasts Following Tibetan Protests

May 12, 2008

Foreign media in mid-March reported incidents of censorship of the Internet and international news broadcasts in China following Tibetan protests that began on March 10. The Chinese government and Internet companies operating in China routinely censor political content on the Internet in China, but the recent actions indicate stepped up efforts to control access to information about the protests.

Foreign media in mid-March reported incidents of censorship of the Internet and international news broadcasts in China following Tibetan protests that began on March 10. The Chinese government and Internet companies operating in China routinely censor political content on the Internet in China, but the recent actions indicate stepped up efforts to control access to information about the protests. About a week after the protests started, foreign news media in China noted that access to foreign Web sites had been blocked, video Web sites and search engine results appeared to be censored, and foreign news broadcasts were temporarily blacked out.

  • Access to the U.S.-based video sharing Web site YouTube.com was reportedly blocked on March 16 after dozens of videos about the protests showed up on the site, according to a March 17 Associated Press (AP) article (via The New York Times). AP reported that the site was "usually readily available in China." The Guardian said on March 17 that Internet users reported its site being blocked.
  • No footage of the protests was posted on the Chinese-based video Web sites 56.com, Youku.com, and Tudou.com, the AP article said. As reported in an earlier CECC analysis, regulations that strengthen control over audio and video Web sites went into effect on January 31.
  • Foreign media reported that searches on China's popular search engine Baidu and Google for news stories on Tibet turned up no protest news in the top results or inaccessible links, while sites such as Sina.com, Sohu.com, and the Chinese versions of Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN ran only official stories from Xinhua, according to a March 17 BusinessWeek report, a March 18 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, and a March 18 BBC report.
  • News broadcasts of BBC World were reportedly blocked when stories about the protests were aired and a CNN spokeswoman confirmed that its coverage of China had been censored, according to the March 17 Guardian article. Under Chinese law, foreign satellite television is generally available only in hotels, apartments, or other places specifically designated for foreigners.

The March 18 WSJ report noted that because of the state-controlled media's limited coverage of the protests, as well as "content-filtering and Internet-portal self-censorship," many Chinese at the time were unaware of the Tibetan protests or their severity. Since then, however, China's media have devoted extensive coverage to the topic, focusing on the violence associated with some of the protests (see, e.g., a March 23 Xinhua article), Chinese citizens' anger over foreign media accounts of the protests (see, e.g., an April 4 People's Daily article profiling an anti-CNN Web site), and denouncing the Dalai Lama and foreign critics of China's Tibet policy (see an April 17 Agence-France Presse article for a summary of this.)

On April 1, members of the International Olympic Committee expressed concern to Beijing Olympic officials about Internet censorship relating to the Tibetan protests and sought assurances that Internet access would be open for foreign journalists during the Olympics, according to an April 2 South China Morning Post article (subscription required). At an April 1 press conference (English, Chinese), Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Jiang Yu said China would honor its commitment for the Olympics, but added "[a]t present, our measures are in line with general international practice." She said the "main reason for inaccessibility of some foreign websites in China is that they spread information prohibited by Chinese law" and "Chinese laws have clearly stipulated which on-line activities are prohibited."

China's Internet regulations prohibit dissemination of a broad range of content, including not only information that contains pornography or violence or endangers national security, but also content vaguely defined as "harmful to the honor or interests of the nation" or "disrupting the solidarity of peoples." As noted in the CECC's 2007 Annual Report, China has blocked access to a number of foreign news Web sites and Web sites promoting human rights.