Many domain names are blocked in mainland China under the country's Internet censorship policy, which prevents users from accessing certain websites from within the country. [1]
A majority of apps and websites blocked are the result of the companies not willing to follow the Chinese government's internet regulations on data collection and privacy, user-safety, guidelines and the type of content being shared, posted or hosted.
This is a list of the most notable such blocked websites in the country. This page does not apply to Chinese territories that adhere to the policy of one country, two systems (Hong Kong and Macau). [2]
This article needs to be updated.(July 2023) |
Website | Domain | URL | Category | Primary language | Duration of blockage | Current status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
google.com | www.google.com drive.google.com chat.google.com scholar.google.com | Search | Multilingual | 2010–present [2] | Blocked [3] | |
YouTube | youtube.com | www.youtube.com | Video | Multilingual | 2009–present [4] | Blocked [3] |
facebook.com | www.facebook.com | Social | Multilingual | July (or earlier) 2009–present [5] [6] | Blocked [7] | |
Wikipedia | wikipedia.org | wikipedia.org | Encyclopedia | Multilingual | 23 April 2019 – present [8] [9] | Blocked |
Marxists Internet Archive | marxists.org | marxists.org | Encyclopedia | Multilingual | About 2005–no later than 2007 [10] | Unblocked |
reddit.com | www.reddit.com | Social | Multilingual | 2018–present [11] | Blocked | |
Fandom | fandom.com | community.fandom.com | Wikia | Multilingual | 2022–present | Partially blocked, sometimes can be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible |
Netflix | netflix.com | www.netflix.com | Entertainment | Multilingual | 2012–present | Unblocked (Service Not Available) [12] |
Zoom | zoom.us | zoom.us | Videotelephony | English | 9 September to November 2019 [13] | Unblocked |
Blogspot | blogspot.com | blogspot.com | Blog | English | May 2009–present [14] [15] [16] | Blocked |
Bing | bing.com | bing.com | Search | Multilingual | 23 to 24 January 2019 [17] | Unblocked (Service Not Available, redirects to Chinese version) [18] |
Instagram.com | www.Instagram.com | Image Sharing | Multilingual | September 2014–present [19] | Blocked | |
whatsapp.com | whatsapp.com | Messaging | Multilingual | September 2017–present [20] | Blocked | |
Twitch | twitch.tv | twitch.tv | Streaming | English | 17 September 2018–present | Blocked [21] |
Roblox | roblox.com | roblox.com | Gaming | Multilingual | December 2021-present | Blocked |
Steam Store | store.steampowered.com | store.steampowered.com | Entertainment | Multilingual | 25 December 2021 [22] [23] –present | Partially blocked, sometimes could be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible |
Steam Community | steamcommunity.com | steamcommunity.com | Social | Multilingual | 15 December 2017 [24] [25] –present | Blocked |
Spotify | spotify.com | spotify.com | Music streaming | Multilingual | 7 October 2008–present | Unblocked (Service Not Available) [26] |
Messenger | messenger.com | messenger.com | Messaging | Multilingual | August 2011–present [5] [6] | Partially blocked (available for tourists in Hainan) [3] [ needs update ] |
twitter.com | twitter.com | Social | English | June 2009–present [14] [27] [6] | Partially blocked (available for tourists in Hainan) [3] [ needs update ] | |
linkedin.com | linkedin.com | Social | Multilingual | October 2021–present [1] [8] [9] | Blocked (Separate Chinese version exists) | |
Skype | skype.com | skype.com | Social | Multilingual | November 2017–unknown [28] | Unblocked |
Tumblr | tumblr.com | tumblr.com | Social | English | 25 May 2016–present [29] | Blocked |
pinterest.com | pinterest.com | Image sharing | Multilingual | March 2017–present [30] | Blocked | |
SoundCloud | SoundCloud.com | SoundCloud.com | Music streaming | Multilingual | September 2013–present [31] | Blocked |
Signal Private Messenger | signal.org | signal.org | Instant messaging | Multilingual | March 16, 2021 – present [32] | Blocked |
Dropbox | dropbox.com | dropbox.com | File sharing | Multilingual | May 2010 – February 2014; June 2014 – present [33] | Blocked |
Pornhub | pornhub.com | www.pornhub.com | Pornography | English | 2012, May to 2016, April, to present | Blocked [34] |
XVideos | xvideos.com | xvideos.com | Pornography videos | English | ??? – present | Blocked |
Medium | medium.com | medium.com | News | English | 2016, 15 April to present [35] | Blocked |
Dailymotion | dailymotion.com | dailymotion.com | Sharing | English | 2007, 11 April to present [36] | Blocked |
BBC | bbc.co.uk (or bbc.com) | bbc.co.uk (or bbc.com) | News and broadcasting | English | 2014, 15 October to present [37] | Blocked |
The New York Times | nytimes.com | nytimes.com | Publication | English | 2012 to present | Blocked [38] |
Vimeo | vimeo.com | www.vimeo.com | Sharing | English | 2009, October [39] to present [40] | Blocked |
The Guardian | theguardian.com | theguardian.com | News | English | June 2019 to present [41] | Blocked |
SlideShare | slideshare.net | slideshare.net | English | June 2012 to present | Blocked [42] | |
Discord | discord.com | discord.com | Messaging | Multilingual | 2018, 13 July to present [43] | Blocked |
DeviantArt | deviantart.com | www.deviantart.com | Art display | English | 2008, 15 December to present [44] | Blocked |
The Washington Post | washingtonpost.com | washingtonpost.com | News | English | June 2019 to present [41] | Blocked |
Nico Video | nicovideo.jp | nicovideo.jp | Sharing | Japanese | Unknown to present [45] | Blocked |
Archive.org (Internet Archive) | archive.org | www.archive.org | Web archiving | English | 2011, April (or earlier) to Present [46] | Blocked [47] [48] |
Bloomberg | bloomberg.com | bloomberg.com | Publication | English | 2012, July to present [49] | Blocked |
Flickr | flickr.com | flickr.com | Sharing | English | 2007, 7 June to present [50] [51] | Blocked |
Wretch | wretch.cc | www.wretch.cc | Blog | Chinese | 2007, August to 2012 [52] | Blocked (discontinued) |
HuffPost | huffpost.com | huffpost.com | News | English | June 2019 to present [41] | Blocked |
The Wall Street Journal | wsj.com | wsj.com | News | English | No later than 22 September 2015 to present [53] [54] | Blocked |
DuckDuckGo | duckduckgo.com | duckduckgo.com | Search | English | 2014, September to present [55] | Blocked |
Scratch | scratch.mit.edu | scratch.mit.edu | Programming, Sharing | Multilingual | 2020, 14 August to present | Blocked [56] [ citation needed ] [57] |
Reuters | reuters.com | reuters.com | News | English | 2015, 25 March, to present [58] | Blocked |
NBC News | nbcnews.com | www.nbcnews.com | News | English | June 2019 to present [41] | Blocked |
TIME | time.com | time.com | News | English | 2016. 9 April to present [59] | Blocked |
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) | cbc.ca | www.cbc.ca | News and broadcasting | English | 2014 to present [60] | Blocked |
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) | www.abc.net.au | www.abc.net.au | News and broadcasting | English | 2018, 22 August to present [61] | Blocked |
Bandcamp | bandcamp.com | www.bandcamp.com | Music | English | 2021, February to present [62] | Blocked |
Technorati | technorati.com | www.technorati.com | Search | English | 2008, July to Present [63] | Blocked |
Archive of Our Own | archiveofourown.org | archiveofourown.org | Fanfiction | Multilingual | 2020, March, to present [64] | Blocked |
Viber | viber.com | viber.com | Messaging | Multilingual | 2014, October to present [65] | Blocked |
South China Morning Post | scmp.com | scmp.com | News | Chinese | 2016 to present [66] | Blocked |
Plurk | plurk.com | www.plurk.com | Social | Multilingual | 2009, April to Present [67] | Blocked |
The Economist | economist.com | economist.com | News | English | April 2016 – present [68] [69] | Blocked |
Heise Online | heise.de | www.heise.de | News | German | November 2019 – present [70] | Blocked |
ABC | abc.es | www.abc.es | News | Spanish | 29 November 2021 – present [71] | Blocked |
Voice of America | voanews.com | www.voanews.com | News | English | Unknown – present [72] | Blocked |
Radio Free Asia | rfa.org | rfa.org | News, broadcasting | Multilingual | Unknown – present [73] [74] | Blocked |
NBC | nbc.com | nbc.com | Broadcasting | English | June 2019 – present [41] | Blocked |
PBworks | pbworks.com | pbworks.com | Sharing | English | January 2011 – present [75] | Blocked |
The Epoch Times | theepochtimes.com | www.theepochtimes.com | News | English | 2003–present [76] | Blocked |
The Epoch Times (Chinese edition) | epochtimes.com | www.epochtimes.com | News | Chinese | 1999–present [76] | Blocked |
HBO | hbo.com | www.hbo.com | Entertainment | English | June 2018 – present [77] | Blocked |
WION | wionews.com | www.wionews.com | News | English | July 2020 – present [78] | Blocked [79] |
Hong Kong Free Press | hongkongfp.com | hongkongfp.com | News | English | November 2015 – present [80] | Blocked |
Apple Daily | hk.appledaily.com | hk.appledaily.com | News | Traditional Chinese (Cantonese) | Unknown – 2021 (closed) | Blocked, [81] closed in 2021 |
TikTok | tiktok.com | www.tiktok.com | Social | Multilingual | June 2020 – present | Blocked [82] |
ChatGPT | openai.com | chat.openai.com api.openai.com | Artificial Intelligence | Multilingual | 2023–present | Blocked [83] |
Rockstar Games | rockstargames.com | www.rockstargames.com | Gaming | Multilingual | Unknown–present | Blocked |
GitHub | github.com | www.github.com | Web tools | Multilingual | June 2020 – present | Partially blocked, sometimes could be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible |
Hugging Face | huggingface.co | huggingface.co | Artificial Intelligence | Multilingual | 2023–present | Blocked [84] |
Flipkart | flipkart.com | www.flipkart.com | Online Shopping | Multilingual | Unknown–present | Blocked |
Zomato | zomato.com | www.zomato.com | Food Service | English | Unknown–present | Blocked |
Swiggy | swiggy.com | www.swiggy.com | Food Service | English | Unknown–present | Blocked |
China censors both the publishing and viewing of online material. Many controversial events are censored from news coverage, preventing many Chinese citizens from knowing about the actions of their government, and severely restricting freedom of the press. China's censorship includes the complete blockage of various websites, apps, video games, inspiring the policy's nickname, the "Great Firewall of China", which blocks websites. Methods used to block websites and pages include DNS spoofing, blocking access to IP addresses, analyzing and filtering URLs, packet inspection, and resetting connections.
The mass media in the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of mass media and is under the direct supervision and control of the Chinese government and ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Media in China is strictly controlled and censored by the CCP, with the main agency that oversees the nation's media being the Central Propaganda Department of the CCP. The largest media organizations, including the China Media Group, the People's Daily, and the Xinhua News Agency, are all controlled by the CCP.
China has been on the Internet intermittently since May 1989 and on a permanent basis since 20 April 1994, although with heavily censored access. In 2008, China became the country with the largest population on the Internet and, as of 2024, has remained so. As of July 2023, 1.05 billion use internet in China.
The Great Firewall is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected foreign websites and to slow down cross-border internet traffic. The Great Firewall operates by checking transmission control protocol (TCP) packets for keywords or sensitive words. If the keywords or sensitive words appear in the TCP packets, access will be closed. If one link is closed, more links from the same machine will be blocked by the Great Firewall. The effect includes: limiting access to foreign information sources, blocking foreign internet tools and mobile apps, and requiring foreign companies to adapt to domestic regulations.
Xi Jinping is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus the paramount leader of China, since 2012. Xi has also been the president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2013. He belongs to the fifth generation of Chinese leadership.
Freegate is a software application developed by Dynamic Internet Technology (DIT) that enables internet users to view websites blocked by their governments. The program takes advantage of a range of proxy servers called Dynaweb. This allows users to bypass Internet firewalls that block web sites by using DIT's Peer-to-peer (P2P)-like proxy network system. FreeGate's anti-censorship capability is further enhanced by a new, unique encryption and compression algorithm in the versions of 6.33 and above. Dynamic Internet Technology estimates Freegate had 200,000 users in 2004. The maintainer and CEO of DIT is Bill Xia.
Censorship in the People's Republic of China is mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is one of the strictest censorship regimes in the world. The government censors content for mainly political reasons, such as curtailing political opposition, and censoring events unfavorable to the CCP, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, pro-democracy movements in China, the persecution of Uyghurs in China, human rights in Tibet, Falun Gong, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Xi Jinping became the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, censorship has been "significantly stepped up".
Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains but exceptionally may extend to all Internet resources located outside the jurisdiction of the censoring state. Internet censorship may also put restrictions on what information can be made internet accessible. Organizations providing internet access – such as schools and libraries – may choose to preclude access to material that they consider undesirable, offensive, age-inappropriate or even illegal, and regard this as ethical behavior rather than censorship. Individuals and organizations may engage in self-censorship of material they publish, for moral, religious, or business reasons, to conform to societal norms, political views, due to intimidation, or out of fear of legal or other consequences.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments, with Tencent Games being the subdivision of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) focused on publishing of games.
Facebook is a social networking service that has been gradually replacing traditional media channels since 2010. Facebook has limited moderation of the content posted to its site. Because the site indiscriminately displays material publicly posted by users, Facebook can, in effect, threaten oppressive governments. Facebook can simultaneously propagate fake news, hate speech, and misinformation, thereby undermining the credibility of online platforms and social media.
Censorship of Wikipedia by governments has occurred widely in countries including China, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. Some instances are examples of widespread Internet censorship in general that includes Wikipedia content. Others are indicative of measures to prevent the viewing of specific content deemed offensive. The duration of different blocks has varied from hours to years.
The Golden Shield Project, also named National Public Security Work Informational Project, is the Chinese nationwide network-security fundamental constructional project by the e-government of the People's Republic of China. This project includes a security management information system, a criminal information system, an exit and entry administration information system, a supervisor information system, a traffic management information system, among others.
UltraSurf is a freeware Internet censorship circumvention product created by UltraReach Internet Corporation. The software bypasses Internet censorship and firewalls using an HTTP proxy server, and employs encryption protocols for privacy.
Internet censorship circumvention, also referred to as going over the wall or scientific browsing in China, is the use of various methods and tools to bypass internet censorship.
Lantern is a free internet censorship circumvention tool that operates in some of the most extreme censorship environments, such as China, Iran, and Russia. It uses wide variety of protocols and techniques that obfuscate network traffic and/or co-mingle traffic with protocols censors are reluctant to block. It also uses domain fronting. It is not an anonymity tool like Tor.
GitHub has been the target of censorship from governments using methods ranging from local Internet service provider blocks, intermediary blocking using methods such as DNS hijacking and man-in-the-middle attacks, and denial-of-service attacks on GitHub's servers from countries including China, India, Iraq, Russia, and Turkey. In all of these cases, GitHub has been eventually unblocked after backlash from users and technology businesses or compliance from GitHub.
GreatFire (GreatFire.org) is a website that monitors the status of websites censored by the Great Firewall of China and helps Chinese Internet users circumvent the censorship and blockage of websites in China. The site was first launched in 2011 by an anonymous trio. GreatFire is funded by sources inside and outside China, including the US-government-backed Open Technology Fund.
The Cyberspace Administration of China is the national internet regulator and censor of the People's Republic of China.
Chinese censorship abroad refers to extraterritorial censorship by the government of the People's Republic of China, i.e. censorship that is conducted beyond China's own borders. The censorship can be applied to both Chinese expatriates and foreign groups. Sensitive topics that have been censored include the political status of Taiwan, human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang internment camps, the persecution of Uyghurs in China, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, the PRC government's COVID-19 pandemic response, the persecution of Falun Gong, and more general issues related to human rights and democracy in China.
Freedom of the press in China refers to the journalism standards and its freedom and censorship exercised by the government of China. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China guarantees "freedom of speech [and] of the press" which the government, in practice, routinely violates with total impunity, according to Reporters Without Borders.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)But he noted that the archive has been temporarily banned by the Chinese government before, about two years ago. 'There is a motive,' he said. 'They have done it to us in the past. What they are doing is targeting just the Chinese files.'