China blocks 'Egypt' from Sina, Sohu and Tencent

China has blocked all searches for the Chinese word for "Egypt" on microblogging sites Sina, Tencent and Sohu, limiting the public's knowledge of the unrest occurring right now in the nation.

In response, Sina said (via PCW): "In accordance with the relevant laws, regulations and policies, the search result did not display."

The English word "Egypt," however, is still searchable.

Severe political unrest has hit the nation over the past week, with thousands of protesters rioting in the streets and demanding that President Hosni Mubarak be removed from power.

The Egyptian government shut down the Internet in the country, in an effort to stop protesters from organizing efficiently.

Mubarak's government also ordered the suspension of operations of Al Jazeera, while canceling the network's licenses. Al Jazeera was one of few broadcasters to get video of Cairo after the riots.

Sina, Tencent and Sohu have a total of 63 million users.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Jan 2011 4:04

toked

Lord...

30.1.2011 14:41 #1

lissenup2

Nothing like one edited by ddp believing he knows what's best for 1/6th of the world's population.

30.1.2011 15:59 #2

Aarbyy

Chima is a part of the corporataocracy, for which reason American corporations are happy to do big business with it, including biz that transfers hi tech know how that China can use to bump up it's military, as William Hartung explains on Democracy Now!. Don't be fooled by the reportage flying around out there about the Chinese stealing secrets from traitors (even if they're real) and downed Stealth bombers. The US knows that people are going to learn sooner or later that business is really what it's all about, not security. Security 'is' business.

When it becomes common knowledge that American companies are transferring hi tech know how to China, the pr that Project Censored notes is now underway to make China seem not so scary will have mellowed out the people enough that they won't feel like dumping on their (traitorous) government.

As for China's efforts to keep it's own people from seeing the example of the Egyptian people fighting for, and winning (so far), their freedom, I'm sure that Obama et al are delighted and would like to shake Hu's hand.

Everywhere, The people are the enemy of elites who have long ago decided to develop a kind of civilization based on exploitation and opppression, which is why democracy (the common, not elite, sort) is not spreading, but is contracting - except where the people find the courage to rise up. Unfortunately, It looks like they don't find that courage, in some cases, until a lot of suffering has taken place and things are really bad. But, Better late than never.

** 13 trillion $ (in personal wealth, and counting) sit in offshore tax havens, used by all sorts of folks, including terrorists, while our political leaders whine that they cant afford social spending!!! That sum is globally sourced. **

30.1.2011 20:10 #3

KillerBug

Not only that, but people are sheep. Even when they rise up, they just appoint some warlord that makes the old dictator seem like a red cross volunteer, and they usually don't even change the government structure that allowed the old president to become dictator. Then they come to the IMF begging for loans with economy-crushing interest rates for things they don't need, so that the new dictator can get kickbacks to buy golden machine guns with.

31.1.2011 06:26 #4

IguanaC64

It's funny...China...used to be the model of the abomination that called itself Communism. Now it's changing to be the ultimate model of uber-capitalism. I predicted this would happen when they re-acquired Hong Kong from the British and didn't immediately crush the open trade and capitalist economy there. I wonder when they're finally going to remove "Communist" from all their communications...I find it awkward to call them Communust atm.

@Aarbyy - I wouldn't call you a Communist really...you are more like an anti-corporatist. If you're a "communist" it's less like what most people know as Communist and more like a utopian socialist. There are problems with that philosphy, too, as far as real world implementation (we are not all good citizens that do things just for the betterment of society...nor do I think we will ever be as a human race).

31.1.2011 18:06 #5

Aarbyy

If I 'am' a Communist, you can call me one. The only point I would make is that I should be free to decide whether I want to be one or not.

People see socialism where it doesn't exist and they don't see it where it does exist. No one does socialism the way capitalists do. They just don't call it socialism because they don't want the people - who get capitalism and free trade - to get any ideas. We get Reaganism, also known as Thatcherism. There is no society. We are all individuals and we succeed or fail in the marketplace depending on our own efforts period.

When in fact things are not that way at all. The marketplace isn't free. The end of World War Two put an end to the idea that capitalism can work. The only way the post war economies could be revived was through massive government spending projects (socialism). Today, You have socialism for the rich in the form of the military industrial complex, and it's concomitant national security ideology (in which there is always an enemy, like communism, that needs a big military - just in case) as well as a government that has freed large (tax evading) corporations, including those in the financial services industry (which the public has to bail out, contrary to free market principles that are, evidently, only good for little people and businesses), from most rules, leading to riskiness leading to disasters that we the public have to fix simply because we the public have lost control of governments to corporations.

The right has propagandized everyone into thinking that government is evil because it taxes us and therefore we should view it as our enemy instead of ours to use. And we've left it all to those who are more than happy to use it to make rules that favor their special capitalist interests. Duh!

Nothing is free, including running nations, states and provinces and cities. If the rich aren't going to pay their taxes (which they hardly do), and you can't tax regular people, because they've been brainwashed into thinking that the whole problem with their country is taxes, then where's the revenues going to come from? (Politicians and rightwing pundits mischaracterize the results of this process as a spending problem, when in fact it's a revenue problem.) Nothing gets properly funded, leading things to fall apart, leading opportunistic, manipulative capitalists to propose, with the blessing of their partners in politics, that ruined services and programs be privatized because when it's socialized (government run) it doesn't work. But there's a difference between saying something that's been sabotaged doesn't work and something doesn't work that has not been deliberately sabotaged.

I'm not sure exactly what a communist is, although I'm sure communism is similar to socialism. Fascism obtains when the political class and the capitalist class work together and run society, excluding meaningful input from regular citizens. The real brains in such an arrangement are the capitalists, obviously. For which reason, corporatism is another way to describe that sort of system. And there are variations of the term. John Perkins coined the term 'corporatocracy', which I just happen to like.

I'm anti corporatocracy, or anti capitalist or anti fascist. Take your pick. I'm against what's against me - and nature and God.

31.1.2011 20:16 #6

IguanaC64

Are you a Communist (big C)? Do you believe that the government should control every facet of the people's lives...do you believe the government should control all industry? You don't seem like it.

Are you a communist (small C)? Do you believe that there should be no government (aside from small local leaders at the head of a commune)? Do you believe the people should own all the means of production and that everyone should work like a cog in a machine for the betterment of society? That the rewards of all work should be separated between everyone equally?

I figure you're probably more a communist than a Communist. The first example is real world Russian/Chinese Communism...the second example is Karl Marx's theoretical communism. Socialism shares a lot with communism, but it's more of a middle road. There are lots of flavors of socialism, too. I think both those examples are flawed. Nobody wants to live under the oppressive authoritarianism of the first (it also stifles advancement and enlightenment of people because people aren't free to follow ideas freely). The second example is just too theoretical...as human beings we have individual wants and needs and we're willing to work harder if we want to have more than just a base existence. You can see real world examples of this in the Zendik Farm commune (somewhere in the US...I forget where). I found a big thread about this commune by people who were former members and there's a lot of (alleged) messed up stuff going on there (IMO). It's interesting reading, though.

Communism is not socialism...people with an agenda are doing that to scare people. Unfortunately, most kids aren't taught the difference so they learn it from Glen Beck.

1.2.2011 11:50 #7

AfterDawn: News