China blocks Google

Tal
 June 25, 2009, 02:04 AM posted in General Discussion

Reported in the Guardian today, and as I write all Google services are currently not working on the Chinese mainland.

This means I and countless others cannot (safely) access our gmail accounts, and all the online transcripts here are currently unavailable.

Hopefully this is just a temporary thing, (but who knows?)

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pearltowerpete
 June 25, 2009, 02:07 AM

Hi raygo,

I just got into my gmail without a proxy...the gov't would be crazy to mess with Gmail during a workday. 以GDP为主！ So many people use it for work.

But then, insanity hasn't often been a big disqualifier for PRC policies in the past...

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Tal
 June 25, 2009, 02:12 AM

It's still blocked for me, (presumably for everyone else in this part of China). Maybe the Shantou censors haven't checked the latest orders from on high yet, or maybe they're just brewing up another pot or two of 功夫茶. Wouldn't surprise me if they don't rush to do the masters' bidding!

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pearltowerpete
 June 25, 2009, 03:51 AM

Hi raygo,

Yeah, blocked here, too. Pretty depressing. A country with this little faith in its people can't really claim to have 崛起ed.

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changye
 June 25, 2009, 04:06 AM

The CCP often blocks some overseas websites such as Google and Youtube, but they never block illegal download sites, which are loaded with foreign dramas/animes/movies, in the PRC. I must say that Chinese authories really know how to handle/control their people.

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bodawei
 June 25, 2009, 10:54 AM

@pete

That makes a lot of sense and I hope that it is true because I rely on gmail myself. But, I am doing some consulting work in Sydney for a client that has blocked all webmail including Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. It is the first time I have encountered this (and I have worked in more than fifty organisations over the past 20 + years in Sydney) but it is actually the way of the future I'm told.  Another client told me today that they are considering a similar move.  The goal is greater IT security.  The requirements for passwords get longer and longer.  The threshold for automatic cancellation of accounts gets lower and lower.  I am hoping that China has not yet reached this level of obsession with IT security (apart from the obvious blocking of pesky sites.)