Herdict Reports Show Twitter Blocked in China

A flurry of reports from China has reached Herdict in the past 24 hours, noting that popular microblogging site Twitter has been blocked across the country. Rebekah from The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) reported on the phenomenon this morning, explaining:

In preparation for the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on Thursday, China has blocked access to Twitter, Hotmail, Flickr, MSN Spaces and several other web services, reports the Times Online.

The Internet crackdown, which began at 5pm local time on Tuesday, is part of a larger effort to minimize possible avenues of dissent before Thursday. Authorities also put a number of government critics under house arrest and censored both local and foreign media reports on the anniversary.

The Wall Street Journal used Herdict reports to demonstrate the filtering, and with “China Blocks Twitter” as a “trending topic” on Twitter itself, we’ve noticed a flurry of activity to Herdict.org. If you are based in China, be sure to report the block to Herdict.org (you can use our Chinese interface here).

You can also follow Herdict on Twitter (@Herdict, @HerdictChinese, or @HerdictArabic)

About the Author: Jillian York

Jillian C. York is the Project Coordinator for the OpenNet Initiative and the part of the Herdict team that you should contact if you have any questions about other-language instances of the site or international press. She created most of the textual content on the site, so if you spot something funny, let her know! She's also the face behind the @Herdict Twitter feed.