DailyTech - China Blocking Access to Flickr

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Internet China Blocking Access to Flickr
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - June 14, 2007 1:56 AM

26 comment(s) - last by asiarez.. on Jun 20 at 1:31 PM

The restrictive Chinese government has banned users from accessing Flickr

The web site Flickr, a popular photo sharing web site owned by Yahoo, has been banned by the Chinese government. Even though Flickr has not received official word from the government over possibly being blocked, users confirmed they no longer have access to the photo sharing site. Starting last Thursday, the site became inaccessible to users in China -- and is not a technical issue caused by Yahoo.

The ban was likely put in place after images from the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre were published on Flickr, a topic made taboo by the restrictive Chinese government. Yahoo did publicly state whether the images were put online by a Chinese resident or someone outside of the country.

"It is our understanding that Flickr users in China are not able to see images on Flickr, and we have confirmed that this is not a technical issue on our end," a Yahoo Hong Kong spokesperson said in an e-mail to Reuters.

It was not long before workarounds for the ban were published on the Internet. There are several possible methods users can utilize to get around the ban while Yahoo works to get the ban lifted.

Along with banning certain web sites in the past, the Chinese government is known for forcing Internet sites like Yahoo and Google to adhere to various forms of Internet censorship. Human rights organizations also frowned upon a prior decision by Yahoo to turn over information on members' activities on the Internet.

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Ah, memories...

By soydeedo on 6/14/2007 3:22:50 AM , Rating: 5

China is like the kid who always wants to play Luke and says you have to be Chewie. You can't argue because you want to make sure you get a turn with his Nintendo Power Glove later. Or his Super Soaker. Or his trampoline.

RE: Ah, memories...

By B166ER on 6/14/07, Rating: -1

RE: Ah, memories...

By Captmorgan09 on 6/14/2007 10:33:48 AM , Rating: 2

That's good stuff *laugh*

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RE: Ah, memories...

By MobileZone on 6/14/2007 12:42:59 PM , Rating: 1

Let's imagine this:

You are a father in your own home with wife and a few kids. In your home there's a large window to the street. You can not control what happens in the street as the street belongs to everyone with their particular opinions, ways, etc.

Then a group of people starts showing some big billboards in front of your window telling your kids that you (the father) is educating them in the "wrong way" or showing hardcore pornography. You have your own way to raise your kids as any other family in the world have. You might not agree to what people outside are saying or might not want to expose your kids to pornography (ex. Singapore).

What should you do? Close the curtain and block your kids to see the billboard outside or let them see it even if you do not agree with what's being said outside?

I'm not pro or against censorship and it's not my job to tell what is good or bad to my neighbour. I just think that it's not up to outsiders (from China) to tell what they should do. I think it's up to Chinese people themselves to define what's good or not.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By Wightout on 6/14/2007 4:25:51 PM , Rating: 3

The chinese people are not little kids...

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RE: Ah, memories...

By xsilver on 6/14/2007 11:34:09 PM , Rating: 2

chinese society is still in its infancy
name another powerful country that has had a political revolution in the last 80 years besides russia.

think of them as the USA at around 1850 - think of all the atrocities that usa had at the time.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By Wightout on 6/15/2007 3:12:25 AM , Rating: 2

The Government should not be looked at as a father figure. It is there to protect us from the outside and from the inside. Censoring parts of history to make people believe it never happened is unacceptable.

Even as a father figure they should be teaching and educating their people just as my father did for me when topics such as drugs, sex, and alcohol came up. You don't pretend they don't exists or your child will later come to find out on his own with a much larger possibility of making a mistake. How does a government create trust from its people when it goes out of the way to hide publicly accessible tools. Flicker may not be the biggest resource that the chinese Government could have banned, but it is a big step in a bad direction.

I dunno... I do know i am not happy about it.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By xsilver on 6/15/2007 8:22:32 AM , Rating: 2

while you may be right that is not the real issue.

the issue is if anybody else has the right to tell china what to do. They are a young country and are still finding their way - they may choose to do bad things (just as teenagers do?!)

Its like your neighbor telling you how to bring up your kid - you'd tell them to get lost.

I dont condone what they do either but you have to at least see why they are doing it - and in some way have to respect their descision.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By asiarez on 6/15/2007 8:38:34 AM , Rating: 2

Chinese society is thousands of years old.
Look a little closer to home before using the word 'atrocities', yeah?

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RE: Ah, memories...

By xsilver on 6/15/2007 8:58:29 AM , Rating: 2

FYI china had a revolution last century - nothing they did in the qin, tang or whatever dynasty governs what they do today (politically).
just like nothing christopher columbus did governs what the usa do today.

quote:
Look a little closer to home before using the word 'atrocities', yeah?

What does this mean? who's home are you referring to? I was making a reference to slave labour and how in usa's infancy they may have done some stupid stuff just like china may be doing now. I thought I didnt need to spell it out. btw. I am not from china nor the usa.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By asiarez on 6/18/2007 11:54:11 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
I was making a reference to slave labour and how in usa's infancy they may have done some stupid stuff just like china may be doing now.

The CIA estimates there are 50,000 people trafficked in to the US as "sex slaves, domestics, garment, and agricultural slaves."
Just because a problem is highlighted in China, it often pays to look at the problems in the west before feeling superior.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By xsilver on 6/20/2007 12:33:47 PM , Rating: 2

I have no idea what you're on about

I never said that the west has no problems
I was trying to make the point that china is still in its infancy after a revolution and concessions must and should be made on their behaviours.
eg. you cant compare 21st century china and USA, 21st century china compared to 19th century USA would be more appropriate.
This is cause waves people seems to like to attack china as some nazi ghetto factory or something.
Im not saying that they're not, but I at least understand their point of view.

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RE: Ah, memories...

By asiarez on 6/20/2007 1:31:53 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
chinese society is still in its infancy

That initially came across as quite patronising, but I now see the point you were making.
I still disagree though - society doesn't progress in a predictable, linear direction, and comparing a country that's only a few hundred years old (and made up of immigrants) to one which is thousands of years old (and had a more recent cultural revolution) is essentially pointless.
I appreciate you weren't making the "oh-so-predictable" dig at the Chinese as I initially thought you were and that you were trying to cut them a little slack by putting things in to perspective, so I'll shut up now. :)

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RE: Ah, memories...

By spillai on 6/18/2007 12:10:26 PM , Rating: 2

Well Said.

Satheesh
Knowledgevibes.com

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Bit if a nuisance

By kmmatney on 6/14/2007 3:58:54 AM , Rating: 2

I'm in Beijing at the moment, only here for a week of work. I noticed that Wikipedia appears to be banned as well - I couldn't even look up the Great Wall in wikipedia. In general, though, I do have access to most of the internet and am posting this from Beijing.

RE: Bit if a nuisance

By UppityMatt on 6/14/2007 4:16:54 AM , Rating: 4

60% of the time my internet works 100% of the time! I dont think having "access to most of the internet" would make me happy. Im just glad they are finding work arounds for it already.

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RE: Bit if a nuisance

By zsouthboy on 6/14/2007 9:33:48 AM , Rating: 3

Won't DT get banned as well for you?

(The picture for this story is the one they seek to erase from history)

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RE: Bit if a nuisance

By masteer381 on 6/15/2007 10:00:25 AM , Rating: 2

the funny thing is that wikitravel isn't banned...

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This it total BS

By cheetah2k on 6/14/2007 10:00:44 AM , Rating: 2

Whats going to happen during the Olympic games?

Will sensitive sites be BLURRED from broadcasts of sports held outside of stadiums like marathons? Will they cease all televised coverage totally because they are affraid we might see someone being run over by a tank?

Personally, i need Flickr to keep my family back home in Australia in touch with what i'm doing over here in Hong Kong/Macau

This is senseless BS.

And for what its worth.. China has the nerve to critize Australia for letting in the Dalai Lama! I wonder what would happen if Australia just banned the export of Coal, Lead, Zinc, Copper and Silica....?

For a country rich in BS, they sure aren't rich in Brains.

RE: This it total BS

By masteer381 on 6/14/2007 10:51:24 AM , Rating: 2

I hope you know that HK/Macau's internet is not regulated by the mainland at all; they can read about Tiananmen all they want. Your access should not be affected.

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RE: This it total BS

By cheetah2k on 6/14/2007 11:02:57 AM , Rating: 2

I agree, but its only a matter of time....

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Well that explains it

By Captmorgan09 on 6/14/2007 10:39:39 AM , Rating: 2

I was wondering why my friends in China couldn't see my flickr pics I inlined into my blog. They say all they can see is a big "X" where the photo is. It's funny, when you're there in China it doesn't feel that different from being any any other Asian country. But then I'm usually just north of Hong Kong. I hear the closer you get to Beijing, the tougher it is.

RE: Well that explains it

By cheetah2k on 6/14/2007 11:04:53 AM , Rating: 2

Tough alright, but you can still get PS2 and DVD copies for HK$8 bucks!

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*sigh*

By vpr on 6/14/2007 3:24:21 AM , Rating: 2

Been living in China since September, and Flickr is what I use to show my family back home what I'm experiencing.

Having them block sites just causes an inconvience to me. I've had to deal with blogger, myspace, livejournal, google, and now flickr bans in the past. That's one thing I'm not going to miss about being here.