china blocks youtube

In a move that surprises absolutely no one, China has blocked YouTube. The entire site. As of this week, the entire nation of China has apparently been blocked access to the popular video sharing website, instead encountering a "Network Timeout" error message: YouTube blocked in China

Google, which owns YouTube, said it began noticing a decline in traffic from China about noon Monday. The last time this happened, about a year ago, China blocked YouTube in an attempt to squelch footage of independence protest riots in Tibet.

Many in the country speculated the latest ban may be an attempt to filter access to footage that a Tibetan exile group released. The videos show Tibetans being kicked and beaten, allegedly by Chinese police officers after the riots.

China, of course, did not directly address whether it has block YouTube. According to a foreign ministry spokesman, "China is not afraid of the internet. We manage the internet according to law... to prevent the spread of harmful information." I wonder how long it will be before this blog is blocked in China. That would be an honor.