The other day, I received the above email message from the Facebook team. After several failed attempts to get to the site, I mentioned the problem to my husband, Erik, who promptly told me not to bother. “Facebook is blocked in China,” he informed me.
The next day, he came home and told me the US Embassy, located not too far from our new home, tracks air quality on a daily basis. “But you can’t look at it because it’s on twitter, another site blocked in China.” I asked around and It seems there are a number of web sites that the Chinese government has decided its residents should not see, and consequently, has blocked for public access.
Officially, the government does not acknowledge that it is blocking Facebook, Twitter, or any other web sites. Unofficially, people say these particular two sites cannot be accessed because the government fears they could be used to incite social unrest or organize demonstrations. Youtube is also blocked, as I understand it, because it has videos of the June 4, 1989 Tianamen Square protest and the violence that ensued.
In June, during the week leading up to the twenty-year anniversary of Tianamen, the Chinese government blocked some news sites and stopped distribution of The <i>International Herald Tribune</i> (the international edition of <i>The New York Times)</i>. I don’t know how many web sites are still blocked in China, but from what I hear, it will get worse before it gets better.October 1 marks the sixty-year anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. During this “sensitive time,” as it is being called here, the government is expected to be more, not less, restrictive on what news its residents can view.
If you want to track the air quality in my neighborhood, here’s the US Government site: http://twitter.com/beijingair . You can let me know how it’s going, but please, not on Facebook.