Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-13
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Instagram has been unavailable for download in China since July 10. (Internet photo) |
After
blocking Google and its services in China in June, China's internet censors
blocked the popular networking app Line and Yahoo's photo-sharing platform
Flickr on July 1, the day of massive democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong on
the 17th anniversary of the territory's return to China. Instagram, the online
photo and video sharing platform owned by Facebook, has now undergone a similar
fate, reports Duowei, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Mainstream
Android app stores removed Instagram on July 10, though it was still available
on the Apple Store. Line is still downloadable, though its services have been
rendered unusable.
Line and
Flickr have not been informed of the reason behind the interruption to their
services, nor do they know when they will be restored. Yahoo is aware of the
issue and is investigating the problem, the company said in a statement. Te
official website of Line meanwhile said it is working with the Chinese
government to block banned keywords. A spokesperson for Line said it is
necessary to "adjust to the customs of the Chinese market" —
suggesting that it means to comply with the censorship of sensitive topics.
In an
online post on July 9, it was claimed that the Publicity Department of the
Communist Party of China has ordered the removal of all overseas-based social
networking services from Chinese app stores before a deadline on July 10. This
has not been confirmed by state authorities nor by the media, however.
Beijing has
tightened censorship of political discussion on the internet since the new
Communist Party leadership was announced at the end of 2012 and there have been
harsh punishments for internet users judged to have threatened domestic
stability or criticized the government. The ongoing campaign against content
deemed to be "rumors" and "pornography" has also had a
chilling effect on online discourse.
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