China Bans YouTube Again

It is not the first time users in China have been unable to access the site. File photo

China has blocked the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube without giving a reason for the ban.

Google, which owns YouTube, noticed Monday a decline in traffic from China, CNN reported. Users inside China continued to encounter an error message: "Network Timeout. The server at youtube.com is taking too long to respond."

"We do not know the reason for the blockage and we are working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users", Scott Rubin, a Google spokesman, said.

It is not the first time users in China have been unable to access the site. In March 2008, China blocked YouTube during riots in Tibet.

Speculations in China suggest the latest ban may be an attempt to filter access to footages released by a Tibetan exile group. The videos show Tibetans being kicked and beaten, allegedly by Chinese police officers after the riots, CNN said.

China, with 298 million Internet users, has routinely blocked access to Web sites it considers politically unacceptable, including the Voice of America and The New York Times. The Chinese government has also censored television broadcasts, including those by the BBC and CNN, during coverage of issues such as its policy in Tibet and Taiwan.

"China is not afraid of the Internet... We manage the Internet according to law... to prevent the spread of harmful information.", China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said Tuesday.

 

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