Chinese government is interfering with its email services in China, making it difficult for users to gain access to its Gmail program, amid an intensified Internet crackdown following widespread unrest in the Middle East.Bad news for business travellers to China: reports are emerging that the Chinese government is more actively blocking virtual private network (VPN) services, which travellers use to get past China's tough internet filtering.The timing coincides with protests for democracy in China, being organised via an internet site banned in China.
China has some of the world's strictest Internet controls and blocks many popular social media sites, including Youtube, Facebook and Twitter. The government has intensified those efforts after pro-democracy protest erupted across the Middle East in January.
Around that time, anonymous calls for protesters to gather for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China triggered a crackdown by Chinese authorities, who stepped up web censorship and deployed huge numbers of police to planned protest sites. No protests happened.
The campaign led to tight security in designated protest sites, while foreign reporters were roughed up by police at the locations. No obvious protest actions have been reported.
China's 10-day annual parliament session also ended last week - a traditionally sensitive time that often leads to increased online controls and security.China operates a huge system of Internet control and censorship dubbed the Great Firewall of China.
In January last year, the US web giant said it suffered cyber-attacks from China-based parties apparently intent on hacking into the Gmail accounts of Chinese rights activists.
The resulting row caused tensions to spike between China and the United States and ended with Google reducing its presence in the Chinese market.China has denied any state involvement in the cyberattacks on the California-based firm, calling such accusations "groundless".
Share This Story to Your Friends ---
No comments:
Post a Comment