YouTube ban only erodes China's image
Protests break out in some nation around the globe and one of the first things a media-shy government does--just after sending in riot police--is pull the plug on YouTube.
The latest example is China's handling of protests in Tibet. The Chinese government has blocked access to YouTube in that country after scores of clips showing violence between police and protesters were posted to the site, according to hundreds of reports found on Google News.
On a trip to China in 2007, News.com reporter Michael Kanellos visited the offices of KU6.com, a rapidly growing video-sharing site in China. Here, KU6 workers review videos for "inappropriate" content before they can be posted.
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com)Scores of other media outlets have been blocked or partially blacked out in China, including broadcasts of CNN, the BBC World, and Google News. But it's YouTube that gets all the ink.
In an example of YouTube's influence, blocking access to the video-sharing site is now a sort of scarlet letter for governments. The site, which allows individuals to communicate with mass audiences, has become a symbol of free speech to many, and governments that forbid it are immediately branded around the world as repressive.
This kind of image can't be welcomed by China as it prepares to host this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
In its report on China's YouTube ban, The New York Times asks whether the Internet and its ability to enable individuals to communicate with large audiences can stand up to a "ruthless government."
The Web publication for British newspaper The Times wrote Monday: "YouTube has been blocked in the past, and the so-called Great Firewall of China prevents discussion of and searches for many sensitive topics, such as the Tiananmen Square protests."
The ban was reported in newspapers in a host of other countries including Russia, Turkey, Canada, and Ireland.
China is obviously no fan of user-generated content. In January, the Chinese government tried to impose a rule whereby only state-run companies could post videos to the Web. The measure was quickly altered after people began raising questions about freedom of speech.
The country's authorities routinely block sites such as Wikipedia, the BBC, and even live TV transmissions to hinder publication of stories on the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, or even stories critical of leaders or governments that China is trying to build better relationships with. Last May, while reporter Michael Kanellos watched a CNN story on Myannmar from a hotel in Beijing, the screen went blank. CNN only returned when the news station was broadcasting a different story.
The Great Firewall of China isn't perfect, and it will alternate between blocking particular sites and allowing particular sites, but it does make it more difficult for Chinese citizens to get full information or news stories, according to some analysts.
The Firewall also seems to allow Westerners to view objectionable material in China, while blocking it for Chinese readers. Conceivably, this could be a technique to blunt criticism from the West.
On an Internet connection from a room in a Western-owned hotel, censorship was fairly light, Kanellos reported. Hundreds of images of the Tiananmen Massacre of 1989 popped up on Google Images, particularly images of "Tank Man." News stories, or at least headlines, on controversial subjects came up as well. In an Internet cafe, far fewer images of "Tank Man" appeared, but they could still be found. A few videos of the riots also were available on second-tier video sites like Veoh Networks.
But those results came when the search is conducted in English. Searching for Tiananmen Square on Google's Chinese Image site with Chinese characters revealed no pictures of the riots in 14 pages of images. The only one--on 14 pages of results--that relates to the 1989 riots was a picture of the Goddess of Liberty. On Baidu, the more popular Chinese Web search site, not even that came up.
In the latest controversy, the Chinese government may have been spooked by what happened in Myanmar last year. Clips of troops clashing with protesters were widely videotaped and posted to YouTube before the site was blacked out in Myanmar. By then it was too late. World condemnation of the crackdown was only spurred on by the YouTube ban.
Perhaps the poster child for bans gone wrong is Pakistan. The government there was angered over videos it found disrespectful to Islam and demanded YouTube be blocked. An ISP in Pakistan goofed and erroneously shut down access to YouTube around the world. The government lifted the ban soon after.
The other important issue in all this is how Google will respond to China's ban. A representative said that the company is "looking into the matter," and trying to "ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible."
But what happens if China wants Google to begin self censoring videos or wants to know the names of the people who posted the clips of the Tibet violence?
Yahoo can be used as a model of what can go wrong when negotiating with the Chinese government. The portal handed over information about a journalist who was later sentenced to eight years in prison for posting comments critical of the government online. Yahoo's action has been widely condemned ever since.
CNET News.com staff writer Michael Kanellos contributed to this report.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sandoCNET. 
we don't want to upset this unstable regime any further.
already their government has killed people for protesting.
don't be suprised if china block cnet now.
(sarcasm alert just in case you missed it - which I suspect you did)
Placating a tyrant like the Chinese goverment will encourage it to become even more aggressive since it will think it can get away with it. Exposing the tyrant may cause it to get violent for a time but eventually it won't be able to function because nobody will want to deal with it.
The Chinese government is deathly afraid of its own people, and that fear is what keeps it in check. The world's media has the duty to keep the Chinese people informed about its government's misdeeds.
As a final thought, your advice is exactly what millions of Jews in Germany under Hitler followed. You know what happened to them.
I am on the chinese gov't side. Its their country or their territories and they have a right to govern it however they want.
In law its called Sovereignty, look it up.
If you think that China, as in their government, is not that bad, then move over there and try to express yourself in any democratic fashion and see how quickly you end up with your face against the floor and a boot on your behind.
without any insurance in case they're badly injured...
there's ten of thousands that are handicapped and get nothing
from the state for their efforts!
china is run by a communist elite. oligarchs are just like in
russia running the show.... the masses are still poor and have
no say... i bet that many chinese would sympathize with the
tibetans if they knew the real story... that's the main reason for
the censorship...
as long as the internal problems are kept at bay and the poor
are not hungry the political system will survive, but if there's a
real world economy crisis china will definetly see a major
change and the communist will lose their power....
i hope that the chinese get a democracy sooner than later...
i visited china 4 years ago and met a lot of very bright people...
when talking to people privately they tell you that they know
what's going on... only people that are ignorant or are benefitting directly from the current political system will speak
out in favor of it...
real honest and smart people know it's time for a change, for
the people, for the environment and for the oppressed peoples
like tibet!
i bet people in hong kong will be very troubled by stuff like
this... if they'd had the choice they'd rather see their political
system being implemented in china than the other way round...
it takes a great leader to turn things around in china... the
current one is clearly not one...!!!
Also, I hope the Olympics turn into a complete failure and embarrassment in China. Not because I dislike the Chinese or the athletes that will be participating. But, because the Olympic Committee once again shows that in this world, money is what counts and the rights of the people come second, if at all. The common Chinese folks are good people. However, due to the oppression and disconnect from the world forced upon by a dictatorship, they may not know how to overcome the situation and have to make the best of it. They're basically kidnapped in their own country. Scary.
Thank you C-net.
They have not said that only state run groups can make the videos.
There fore Akumm you **** beep they have not all of a sudden become a facist country fasioning the music culture ect ect to the wishes of an elite few and labling freedom on the front of it they simply want to poliece what gets posted and yes arent quite in full swing with their actions so are a bit touchy.
Therefore there is no evidence that china dosent like individuals in china make video entries simply a desire to limit critism of china and premote more positive vibes thats quite diffrent to say Sudi arabi who just wants to hear god god god alla come out the moths of its individuals and strictly fasion the lot.
China is a socialist country.
Sorry did i say that correctly
They are a buch of sociallists there in that land who yes find keeping there intrests somtimes hard and yes we too are humans who have things to say and not just the elite less militarially opressed ones of the media.
So the truth for a change.
Google has delete many people who have stood up and spoken about opression in many ways and the CIa are now 3 times bigger than they were 6 years ago operating agendas for individuals that hate your adverage american.
The chinese love the idea of their culture growing and prospering even video posts from people of china making socialist gestures wanting things to prosper too.
People left rith and center in the west have been crushed for trying to express art and culture want a more liberal social way and creative zest.
Just look at what happened to mp3.com
youtube is not nessarly the king of freedom i have note quite a few things they have blantently deleted.
And all you can really say is the great ffirewall of china like the US and others are innocent.
This notion is bolloks so there and in some way expressing some thoughts in china under the internet is easier than in the west and for other things the west is more tollerent and thats the truth one of grey that needs to be addressed with care not just fists of brush tarnishing but honest open discussion getting down to the detail as opposed to idilogical notions of nonsense.
they are free."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
China will fix itself when enough people get together and realize they'd rather die than live the way they're living. To fight for freedom you have to risk prison or death. That's just the way it's always been.
But you were wrong about one thing. Evil triumphs when good men work hard. Everyday I see people go to work to make less than they need. Most people are overworked, under rested, and generally displeased with their lives. Debt is skyrocketing, gasoline prices are through the roof, anti-depressants are being sold to everything that moves even though no one has insurance, divorces are all around us, and millions are losing their homes. What do they do about it? What's their master plan? They get up and go to work the next day. That's right. There are millions of people going to work everyday to get off and lose their homes. I imagine the Chinese people have much the same fight in them. After all Walmart doesn't seem to have any type of supply problem.
No, what China and what every country needs is for the people to do nothing. They need to sit on their butts and let the businesses remain empty, the gas pumps unused, and the empty houses on the market until the Governments listen. If the people didn't show up to build anything for a while the Government wouldn't have much power anymore, but they'd have to take the risk that the Government might start killing people to convince them to go back to work. That's why you have to be willing to die to fight for freedom.
Personally though, I know I plan on going back to work tomorrow. Not much point in protesting alone.
If we're going to criticize a company for compliance with a government order or request - which they technically must do as long as they operate within said country unless they somehow managed to ink an agreement that says otherwise, then we must be prepared for unintended side-effects.
People need to stop being sheep and actually think through the information they're presented.
Guess it all depends on your point of view...
Banning youtube only give the western media (specially CNN) to complain without the oppotunity to respond.
Instead, they should allow free access to media, especially youtube. That video clip can easily be #1 all time most viewed video on youtube.
And then, of course, they should post them own videos too to counter the negative reports.
From public relation point of view (instead of political), Chinese government is extremely clueless.
and the claim that tibetans are chinese citizens too!!!
to kill protesters that have no guns, just rocks and other objects
that are not lethal to police if they keep their distance is not a
just measure...
i hope the truth comes to light and that the olympic games get
boycotted by all western nation that claim to respect human
rights and freedom of speech...
if the olympic games go ahead as planned it will be something
similar to the olympic games 1936 in germany. back then a
brutal dictator that killed thousands of it's own citizens hosted
the olympic games and pulled off to make the public believe
that its' regime was not a threat to the world...
i have visited china and i i think that the majority of chinese are
good people that want to live in peace. i think that the power
hungry political elite of the communist party is to blame for all
of this. the think by sticking to those methods they can keep
their citizens under control... but it's only a question of time
until that political system will be obsolete...
imagine what a democratic china would be like!!!
- yeah...
- by smokeonit March 22, 2008 3:49 PM PDT
- it's time for the world to speak up and demand that china returns
- Reply to this comment
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(41 Comments)tibet to it's people and leaves them alone!
the message from the tibetans couldn't be clearer!!!
they're sick and tired of be oppressed, mistreated, not able to run
their own country and not able to speak out the truth!!!