[Infowarrior] - IOC agrees to Internet blocking at the Games

[Richard Forno]

  International Herald Tribune
IOC agrees to Internet blocking at the Games
By Andrew Jacobs
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=14895767

BEIJING: The Chinese government confirmed Wednesday what journalists  
arriving at the lavishly outfitted media center here had suspected:  
Contrary to previous assurances by Olympic and government officials,  
the Internet would be censored during the upcoming games.

Since the Olympic Village press center opened Friday, reporters have  
been unable to access scores of Web pages - politically sensitive ones  
that discuss Tibetan succession, Taiwanese independence, the violent  
crackdown of the protests in Tiananmen Square and the sites of Amnesty  
International, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers known  
for their freewheeling political discourse.

On Wednesday - two weeks after its most recent proclamation of an  
uncensored Internet during the Summer Games - the International  
Olympic Committee quietly agreed to some of the limitations, according  
to Kevan Gosper, chairman of the IOC press commission, Reuters reported.

Gosper said that he regretted the limitations but that "IOC officials  
negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked  
on the basis they were not considered Games related."

A government spokesman initially suggested the problems originated  
with the site hosts, but on Wednesday, he acknowledged that  
journalists would not have unfettered Internet use during the Games,  
which begin Aug. 8.

"It has been our policy to provide the media with convenient and  
sufficient access to the Internet," said Sun Weide, the chief  
spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee. "I believe  
our policy will not affect reporters' coverage of the Olympic games."

The Chinese government and the IOC had repeatedly suggested up until  
two weeks ago that the 20,000 journalists covering the games would  
have full Internet access. Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic  
committee president, declared that the foreign media would be able to  
report and publish its work freely in China and that the Internet  
would be uncensored.

The revelation that politically sensitive Web pages will be off limits  
to foreign reporters comes at a time of growing skepticism about the  
government's commitment to pledges made when it won the right to stage  
the games in 2001: that it would improve its record on human rights  
and provide athletes with clean air.

Despite a litany of measures that include restricting private vehicles  
and shuttering factories, Beijing's skyline in recent days has been  
shrouded in a thick haze, prompting some hang-wringing over whether  
the government can deliver on its promise of a "blue skies" Olympics.

In recent months, human rights advocates have accused Beijing of  
stepping up the detention and surveillance of those it fears could  
disrupt the Games. On Tuesday, President George W. Bush privately met  
with five Chinese dissidents at the White House to drive home his  
dissatisfaction with the pace of change. Bush, who leaves for the  
opening ceremonies in just over a week, also pressed China's foreign  
minister to ease political repression.

Concerns about free access to the Internet in Beijing had intensified  
Tuesday, when Western journalists working at the main press center in  
Beijing said they could not get to Amnesty International's Web site to  
see the group's critical report on China's failure to improve its  
human rights record ahead of the Olympics.

Journalist groups complained last week about treatment from security  
officials while trying to interview people waiting in line for Olympic  
tickets, according to Bloomberg News.

Jonathan Watts, president of The Foreign Correspondents Club of China,  
said he was disappointed that Beijing had failed to honor its  
agreement to temporarily remove the elaborate firewall that prevents  
ordinary Chinese from fully using the Internet. "Obviously if  
reporters can't access all the sites they want to see, they can't do  
their jobs," he said. "Unfortunately, such restrictions are normal for  
reporters in China, but the Olympics were supposed to be different."

Sandrine Tonge, the IOC media relations coordinator, said the  
organization would press the Chinese authorities to reconsider the  
limits.
How to circumvent censors

Reporters Without Borders is encouraging journalists covering the  
Beijing Olympics to skirt censorship with tips on how to get around  
firewalls, lock computer files and find safe translators, The  
Associated Press reported from Paris.

In a guide published on the Internet on Wednesday, the organization  
advised reporters to conduct phone calls and write e-mail messages  
with the knowledge that they might be monitored.

The new guide will probably help only journalists who have not yet  
left for Beijing: The press freedom group says its Web site,  
www.rsf.org, remains blocked in China. The country has backed away  
from a promise to lift all Internet blocks on foreign media.