China Quietly Unblocks Internet Porn
In China, this photo may be porn
Let Freedom Ring: China Quietly Unblocks Internet Porn
The Chinese government's notorious Great Firewall, which for years has kept that country's 420 million internet users from accessing many news and politically charged websites, may finally be showing some cracks. For the past eight weeks, horny web surfers have noticed that many porn sites are no longer blocked. There has been no official word from the government's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the Ministry of Public Security and State Council Information Office, both of which police the internet in China. But analysts are speculating! TheAP spoke to an analyst named Zhao Jing, who had one theory:
Maybe they are thinking that if Internet users have some porn to look at, then they won't pay so much attention to political matters."
Perhaps by keeping the population's hands and minds distracted, the Chinese government can maintain its totalitarian grip? Holding a mouse in one hand is preferable to a gun or molotov cocktail for sure. But one day, this turn of events may be looked on by scholars as the death knell of communist rule in China. Even some who work within the system see this is a potential watershed in China's long history:
The more they restrict something, the more people pay attention," said a 29-year-old employee at a state-owned logistics company who did not want to be identified because he surfs for porn on business trips.
However, there is still a long way to go and the government may only be willing to allow so much. Last year, a college professor was tried and convicted of organizing orgies over the internet, so people shouldn't get too excited just yet. But with sites like Xingba (Sex Bar) now unblocked, the revolution has clearly begun.
[Images via AP]
Sudden glut of online porn puzzles Chinese
Chinese web censors suddenly and unexpectedly unblocked tens of thousands of pornography sites this week, sparking—among other things—widespread speculation over its motives. Some believe that the government is trying to distract attention from today's anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, while others believe it's a move aimed at calming discontent among the country's increasingly male-heavy population.
China's government has previously called online pornography harmful and launched repeated crackdowns, AP notes. Many IT experts in China believe the sudden accessibility of porn sites may be just a glitch instead of a policy chance. Censors "screw up and some site will suddenly become available for a day or two days, and then be back to normal again," said one Beijing analyst. "There's never any rhyme or reason to it." YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter remain blocked, along with political websites.
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