China has opened crevices in the Great Firewall that blocks access to many internet sites, allowing the public to see some quarters of cyberspace that it has long blocked.
The lifting of some restrictions could end controversy that has marred the smooth run-up to the start of the Games after the disclosure that the International Olympic Committee and the Bocog games organisers had cut a deal that enabled censors to block sites deemed sensitive or harmful to national security. The issue had caused a major stir and created dissension within the top ranks of the IOC because the move reneged on previous pledges of full free access during the August 8-24 Games.
The IOC said it had pressed China in talks on Thursday to open up the internet to visiting journalists. “The issues were put on the table and the IOC requested that the Olympic Games hosts address them.”
Already today users in China were able to reach the website of Amnesty International as well Reporters Without Borders and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The BBC’s Chinese language website was also expected to become available. Blocks on the main BBC English site were lifted a few months ago after remaining in place in China for years.
Kevan Gosper, the IOC Press Commission chairman, said he had received assurances from IOC President Jacques Rogge that its position had not shifted on ensuring access to the internet for journalists covering the Games.
He told the Reuters news agency: “Already we put a team together in the IOC to work with Bocog to begin to open up sites which we believe are absolutely necessary to comply with non-censored reporting of the Games. We are in the process of getting websites which were previously blocked unblocked.”
However, many sites will remain blocked at the games Main Press Centre because these are considered illegal by the Chinese authorities. The relaxation extends to China’s 253 million internet users – now the largest online population in the world.
Mr Gosper said sites deemed by the government as subversive would continue to be blocked. “There will be sites blocked that have to do with pornography or where in the opinion of the national government are sites which are subversive or against national interest, and that's normal in most countries in the world.”
Sites related to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned by China as an illegal cult, will remain inaccessible. Sites linked to Chinese dissidents and to the Tibetan government-in-exile will also remain out of bounds as well attempts to search for information on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on student demonstrators.
Gunilla Lindberg, IOC vice-president, said: “Internet use will be just like in any Olympics.”
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