| Revision as of 20:23, 14 September 2007 editTruadi20 (talk | contribs)2 editsm ←Created page with 'On several occasions, the government and Internet service providers of the People's Republic of China (PRC) have blocked Misplaced Pages in mainland China...' | Revision as of 00:26, 16 September 2007 edit undoPC78 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, Pending changes reviewers, Template editors98,746 edits ←Redirected page to Blocking of Misplaced Pages in mainland ChinaNext edit → | ||
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| On several occasions, the government and ]s of the ] (PRC) have blocked ] in ] due to ] enacted by the PRC. | |||
| The blocks function in a similar way to a ]. As with ] in general, the territories of ] and ], which have separate legal systems, are not affected. Wikimedia sites have been blocked at least three times in their history. | |||
| In April 2006, Chinese ] company ] launched ], a ]-like ] online encyclopedia, based in ]. Baidu Baike's content policies differ from those of Misplaced Pages,<ref>{{zh icon}} {{cite web| url=http://www.baidu.com/search/baike_help.html#n7| title=百科原则| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Baidu Baike}}</ref> and the site has not been subject to blocking. The encyclopedia contains more articles than all language editions of Misplaced Pages besides the English version. | |||
| In June 2007, the block was lifted except for the Chinese version of Misplaced Pages and a select number of articles (including ] and ]) which remain inaccessible to users in China. | |||
| ==Blocks== | |||
| ===First block=== | |||
| The first block spanned ] and ], ]. It began when access to the ] from ] was blocked on the 15th anniversary of the ]. | |||
| Possibly related to this occurrence, on ] an article from the IDG News Service was published,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116323,00.asp| title=Chinese Build Free Net Encyclopedia| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=PC WORLD}}</ref> discussing the Chinese Misplaced Pages's treatment of the protests. The Chinese Misplaced Pages also has articles on various topics considered controversial within China, such as ], written by contributors from Taiwan and elsewhere, ], the ], and so on. A few days after the initial block of Chinese Misplaced Pages, all ] sites were blocked in mainland China. | |||
| In response to the blocks, two ]s on the Chinese Misplaced Pages, 'Shizhao' and 'Mountain', contacted their respective ISPs, and confirmed that the Wikimedia sites had been blocked. Shizhao's ISP, China Science & Technology Net, expressed willingness to submit an appeal to lift the block. Shizhao and Mountain then drafted an appeal, which was submitted on ], 2004. The appeal stated that Misplaced Pages was an encyclopedia that does not serve any political bias, strives to be neutral, and provides an avenue for foreigners to understand ] and ]. The appeal also compared the Chinese Misplaced Pages's coverage of controversial topics to coverage in existing encyclopedias in China, and suggested that the blocking of Misplaced Pages would prevent sysops from removing undesirable content. All the Wikimedia sites were unblocked between ] and ], ]. | |||
| There was no explanation for the block, either before or after its occurrence. The block had an effect on the vitality of Chinese Misplaced Pages, which suffered sharp dips in various indicators such as the number of new users, the number of new articles, and the number of edits. In some cases, it took anywhere from 6 to 12 months in order for these to return to their levels of May 2004. | |||
| ===Second block=== | |||
| The second and less serious block lasted between ] and ], ]. During this 4-day period, access to Misplaced Pages was erratic or unavailable to some users in mainland China — this block was not comprehensive and some users in mainland China were never affected. The exact reason for the block was unknown, but it may have been linked with the closing down of ], a popular ]-based BBS that was shut down a few weeks earlier for hosting overtly radical political discussions. Former users from the BBS had arrived en masse on Chinese Misplaced Pages. Chinese Wikipedians once again prepared a written appeal to regional ISPs, but the block was lifted before the appeal was actually sent out. | |||
| ===Third block=== | |||
| The third block began on ] ]. Nearly a year later on ] ], the block was partially lifted. | |||
| In response to the block, the ] of the Chinese Misplaced Pages has added a message at the top directing any mainland China user who succeeds in getting through to a special ]. Dozens of editors from across ] have reported on the status page that they can only access Misplaced Pages using ]. | |||
| On ] 2005, 'Shizhao' once again submitted an appeal to his ISP, and stated, "''If nothing goes wrong, the block should be lifted within one week.''" On ], Shizhao posted, "''The block will be lifted by Wednesday ]'']. According to procedure (the details of which are unknown), after the appeal is submitted, a reply will come within 3 business days, and my appeal has already been submitted by the ISP on Friday. My ISP has said that so far they haven't encountered a case where an appeal has failed. This should be good news, but it's still impossible to know the reason for the block.''" | |||
| The appeal submitted strove to be closer to the position of the Chinese government than the first appeal submitted in 2004. It stated, "''... he most effective approach is not to reject outside our borders, but to participate in it actively. If we block Misplaced Pages, we lose the opportunity to speak with the world with a Chinese voice, and allow forces such as evil cults and Taiwan independence control the development of content in the project, thus presenting to the world a twisted China; as users, we lose a channel through which we could access knowledge, a channel whose importance is rising constantly; such an act is no different from cutting away our own voice and tongue, or shutting our own eyes and ears; it is closing the doors to our country in the age of the internet.''" (]) | |||
| In the morning of ] ], ] (UTC +8), Wikipedians from all parts of mainland China began to report that they could access Misplaced Pages without using proxies. It was initially thought that the block had indeed been lifted, but later on the apparent "unblocking" was linked to the deployment of an ] in front of the ] in the Korean ], which changed the ] of Wikimedia sites for users in China, thus circumventing the block. In any case, within a few hours normal access to Misplaced Pages was once again impossible. | |||
| There has been some discussion that a self-censored version could be made available to users in mainland China, and supporters argue that 99% of Misplaced Pages would remain intact. However, these ideas have not been put into practice. | |||
| ===Unblocking and reblocking=== | |||
| Beginning from ], ], conflicting reports came in from different parts of China about a possible lifting of the block. The first report of a change was by a ] in ], ], who posted his finding to an online forum at about 6 pm on ], ], ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?t=13293| title="Misplaced Pages Unblocked?" thread| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Chinese-forums.com}}</ref> However, access appears to differ depending on location and Internet service provider as a result of more fine-grained blocking. According to initial reports by bloggers within China, ] residential DSL in Beijing allowed access to English Misplaced Pages but denied access to Chinese Misplaced Pages. Meanwhile ] DSL in ] allowed access to both, as did ] in Beijing. Various providers in ] blocked access to Chinese Misplaced Pages but not to the English version.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.andrewlih.com/blog/2006/10/11/china-partially-unblocks-wikipedia/| title=China PARTIALLY unblocks Misplaced Pages| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=andrewlih.com blog}}</ref> Posters to the ] online forum who stated that they were in Beijing further noted that while they could access the English language version of the {{srlink|Tiananmen Square}} article, which includes a brief description of the 1989 protests, the {{srlink|Tiananmen Square protests of 1989}} article remained blocked.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=200323&cid=16403351| title="I'm In Beijing and Here I Go..."| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Slashdot user perfectlynormalbeast}}</ref> There was a similar report that the article {{srlink|democracy}} was available on English Misplaced Pages, while {{srlink|Falun Gong}} was unavailable.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.danwei.org/internet/wikipedia_unblocked_but_is_nan.php| title="Misplaced Pages unblocked, but is Nanny throttling Youtube uploads?" | accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=DANWEI blog user}}</ref> In contrast, ] stated on ] that English Misplaced Pages appeared entirely unblocked, including the article on the 1989 protests, but that the Chinese language version was unaccessible for most Chinese. The advocacy organization criticized the government shift as meant "to appease its critics abroad while continuing to censor the information available to its own population," while congratulating "those in charge of Misplaced Pages, especially ]".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15374| title="China: Government unblocks access to Misplaced Pages’s English-language version" | accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Reporters Without Borders press release}}</ref> Misplaced Pages users state that other language editions, including ], ], and ] are available at this time.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Misplaced Pages%3AVillage_pump_%28news%29&diff=81562442&oldid=81113373| title=Misplaced Pages:Village pump (news) | accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Statement by Misplaced Pages user m.e.}}</ref> | |||
| On ] ], blogger ] reported that Chinese Misplaced Pages appeared to have been fully unblocked.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.andrewlih.com/blog/2006/11/10/chinese-wikipedia-now-fully-unblocked/| title="Chinese Misplaced Pages now fully unblocked?" | accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=andrewlih.com blog}}</ref> Lih confirmed the full unblocking several days later and offered a partial analysis of the effects based on the rate of new account creation on Chinese Misplaced Pages. Prior to the unblocking, 300-400 new accounts were created on Chinese Misplaced Pages daily. In the four days since the unblocking, the rate of new registrations more than tripled to over 1,200 daily, jumping into the second fastest growing Misplaced Pages after the English version. Similarly, there were 75% more articles created in the week ending on November 13th than during the week before. Coming on the same weekend that Chinese Misplaced Pages passed the 100,000 article mark, Lih predicted that the second 100,000 would come quickly but that the existing body of Chinese Misplaced Pages users would have their hands full teaching the new users and teaching them basic Misplaced Pages policies and norms.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.andrewlih.com/blog/2006/11/13/chinese-wikipedias-surge-in-growth/| title="Chinese Misplaced Pages’s Surge in Growth" | accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=andrewlih.com blog}}</ref> | |||
| On ], ], ] news agency reported the main page of the ] version of Misplaced Pages (]) could be displayed and searches for apolitical terms turned up results, but some subjects remained blocked, such as "]".<ref>{{cite web| url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-11-16T131905Z_01_PEK60024_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-INTERNET.xml&src=111606_0854_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters| title="Misplaced Pages unblocked in China after year-long ban"| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=Reuters}}</ref> However, subsequent reports suggested that both the Chinese and English versions had been reblocked the next day on ]. It is not yet confirmable if the unblocking that occurred in October and November 2006 was due to technical problems of the so-called "]" or for any other reasons.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.danwei.org/internet/the_nanny_changes_her_mind_wik.php| title="The Nanny changes her mind: Misplaced Pages blocked again"| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=DANWEI}}</ref> | |||
| On ] ], the block was lifted, with the exception several "sensitive" articles and the Chinese Misplaced Pages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/online/new-media/news/index.cfm?newsid=3540 |title=English Misplaced Pages unblocked in China |accessdate=2007-06-20}}</ref> On ] ], the Chinese Misplaced Pages was unblocked as well, only to be blocked again shortly thereafter. | |||
| The number of blocked articles is slowly increasing, and now includes several talk pages. Users in China who attempt to access a blocked article or any page on the Chinese Misplaced Pages are prevented from accessing any Wikimedia site for a period of sixty seconds. | |||
| ==] administrators working under blockage== | |||
| Over one billion Chinese are blocked from using the Misplaced Pages. Mainland China has the largest number of administrators for the ], total of 30. Even though the Chinese government has spent billions of ] on building the ] to prevent people to get connected to sites such as wikipedia, the mainland Chinese administrators are able to bypass this expensive project without any problems. | |||
| The capital city - ] has 6 administrators, ] has 5, ] province has 7, ] province has 1, ] province has 3, ] province has 1, ] province has 1, ] province has 1, ] province has 1, ] has 1, ] has 1, other area has 1. <ref></ref> | |||
| One administrator from the capital city Beijing is also a Misplaced Pages Bureaucrat. Three others from Guangdong are also ]. At the same time, none of the sixteen administrators from ] is a bureaucrat. | |||
| The administrators in several Chinese cities are able to openly advertise for meetings and have met in person. No one has reported any police spying activities during those meetings. | |||
| ==Chinese Misplaced Pages self-censorship== | |||
| {{main|Chinese Misplaced Pages}} | |||
| November 30th, 2006, CBS published an online article named: | |||
| In December 2006, the ] Asia-Pacific<ref> By Howard W. French / The New York Times, Published: November 29, 2006.</ref> published an article that sensitive topics get gentle treatment on Chinese Misplaced Pages. | |||
| {{cquote|But on sensitive questions of China's modern history or on hot-button issues, the Chinese version diverges so dramatically from its English counterpart that it sometimes reads as if it were approved by the censors themselves. | |||
| For some, the Chinese version of Misplaced Pages was intended as just such a resource, but its tame approach to sensitive topics has sparked a fierce debate in the world of online mavens over its objectivity and thoroughness. | |||
| On the evidence of entries like this, for the moment, the fight over editorial direction of Misplaced Pages in Chinese is being won by enthusiasts who practice self-censorship.}} | |||
| == Reaction == | |||
| Chinese Wikipedians have expressed fears about the detrimental effects that a permanent ban would have. First of all, the block deprives a useful resource from the majority of Chinese speakers in the world. Moreover, since mainland Chinese form a significant portion of the Chinese Misplaced Pages community (46% of all users in March 2005), a long-term block could severely stunt the growth of Misplaced Pages similar to the June 2004 block. Finally, as the presence of contributors from multiple communities and viewpoints has helped in ensuring neutrality in some controversial topics (e.g. ]), the sudden removal of one community could exacerbate ] on the Chinese Misplaced Pages. | |||
| As of now, there is a general anti-Chinese government bias on the majority of articles included in the Chinese version of Misplaced Pages compare to the English version, likely due to the bans. This bias is likely to fuel further bans in mainland China. | |||
| == Circumvention of the block == | |||
| Technically adept Internet users in China are currently able to circumvent the block fairly easily (using almost any ]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Advice_to_users_using_Tor_to_bypass_the_Great_Firewall|title="Misplaced Pages:Advice to users using Tor to bypass the Great Firewall|accessdate=2007-02-14| publisher=en.wikipedia.org}}</ref> They may view but not edit Misplaced Pages in this manner, as a proposed Misplaced Pages policy (]) prevents users from editing using open proxies and many administrators block open proxies in a way so even registered users can not use them to edit articles. | |||
| ] software, announced in December 2006, claims to allow Internet-blocked countries such as China to access ]. Michael Hull, Psiphon's lead engineer, told ] Online, "We're aiming at giving people access to sites like Misplaced Pages."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/12/01/censor-tool.html| title="Tool to circumvent internet censorship set to launch"| accessdate=2006-12-24| publisher=cbc.ca}}</ref> | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{reflist|colwidth=35em}} | |||
| == See also == | |||
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| == External links == | |||
| {{wikinews|Chinese ban of Wikimedia enters tenth week}} | |||
| {{meta|China block}} | |||
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| * (BBC News) | |||
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| * (translated by The Washington Post Beijing Bureau) | |||
| * (translated by The Washington Post Beijing Bureau) | |||
| * (CNN.com) | |||
| * (International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)) | |||
| * '']'' with ], interview with Jimmy Wales, 13 Oct. 2006 | |||
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Revision as of 00:26, 16 September 2007
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