By Hyo-Jin Paik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China– Two days before the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre where thousands died fighting for democracy, the Chinese government has authorized an extensive censorship of the Internet.

Starting Tuesday, social networking sites, such as Twitter, as well as YouTube, Flickr, Hotmail, and Bing have been blocked.

Microsoft’s Public Affairs Director Kevin Kutz said, “We are reaching out to the [Chinese] government to understand this decision and find a way to move forward.”

Tiananmen Square (Source: AP)

While it is not uncommon for the Chinese government to block websites considered to be controversial before major events, the massive block today is the first extensive censorship of social media.  Some believe that this mass Internet censorship was prompted because calls for re-evaluation of Tiananmen have been published on the Internet this year.

Reporters Without Borders, outraged by this censorship, released a statement, “The Chinese government stops at nothing to silence what happened 20 years ago in Tiananmen Square.  By blocking access to a dozen websites used daily by millions of Chinese citizens, the authorities have opted for censorship at any price rather than accept a debate about this event.”

Internet users in China (Source: AFP)

In addition to Internet censorship, TV viewers in foreign compounds and hotels in Beijing and Shanghai experienced blackouts for minutes at a time as censors blocked out reports regarding the Tiananmen anniversary.

For more information, please see:

AFP – China blocks websites ahead of Tiananmen anniversary – 2 June 2009

BBC – Chinese curbs before anniversary – 2 June 2009

The Huffington Post – China Blocks Twitter Ahead of Tiananmen Anniversary – 2 June 2009

NYT – China Blocks Twitter Service Ahead of Anniversary – 2 June 2009