YouTube officials have confirmed that as of yesterday, access to their popular video sharing site has been blocked by Chinese authorities. In an act of customary defiance and paranoia, the not-so-friendly or tolerant Chinese propaganda machine has publicly challenged the authenticity of a video posted last year which showed a pro-Tibet protester being mercilessly beaten to death by police.
Although it is widely acknowledged that Chinese censorship is extreme and absolute, this latest practice of the ancient martial art of “Sweep Under Rug” is sure to have the undesired effect of actually widening worldwide attention to the issues of abuse, torture and downright skullduggery.
In March of 2008, footage of unrest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa prompted YouTube to be temporarily blocked as Chinese officials scrambled to somehow pull the wool over their citizens eyes, again. Paris-based "Reporters Sans Frontières" (RSF) have branded China as an "Enemy of the Internet" and even more dramatically "the largest prison in the world for cyber-dissidents" in recent times. This attitude is unlikely to change but will continue to grow until China is forced to shut the internet down – maybe they can hire the GOP to help promote their campaign.
