Page 194 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Figure 34. Webpage screenshot of Flickr.com when using a Chinese IP address.

6.4.4.3 YouTube

YouTube was blocked in China from October 2007, but on 31 October 2007, peo-
ple could visit the site again. However, the government offered no explanation about
the re-opening. On 15 March 2008, YouTube was blocked a second time. Cai Ming-
zhao, vice director of the State Council Information Office, denied the authority’s in-

volvement and promised to investigate the issue. The block was temporarily removed,
but on 4 March 2009, people found out that YouTube was blocked again and assumed
it was related to the ongoing Two Sessions (NPC and CPPCC). A spokesman from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to respond to the block and declared that ‘Chinese

government is not afraid of the internet’ (Shi, 2009). YouTube confirmed the block and
announced that it had no idea why it was censored and sought to recover the connec-
tion. On 29 March 2009, Chinese users could not access YouTube for the third time.
Qin Gang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when answering a foreign

journalist said: ‘Regarding what can be viewed on the internet, people should view
what is accessible and ignore the inaccessible sources’ (Cao, 2009). Figure 35 shows
that Youtube is blocked when using a Chinese IP address.

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