China Now Censoring Blogs

According to this story, two popular websites which host thousands of blogs have been shut down by the Chinese authorities for posting entries that were critical of the government. The Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said that blog hosts BlogBus.com and Blogcn.com have been shut down as part of an overall escalation in the level of censorship. Internet cafes and online discussion forums, along with major foreign media sites, have previously been shackled in the government's goal to strangle free expression on the web.

Interestingly, this recent crackdown coincides with the opening of the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, at which China has a seat. Also, the censorship comes days after the Chinese legislature amended its constitution to state that, for the first time, the state respects and protects human rights.

Despite what the ChiCom's put in their constitution, there is no freedom without freedom of expression and there is no free speech in China.

[Update] From China, Tennessee Ruck at Voluntarily in China blogs about his personal experience with the government blocking of blogs. Apparently a letter by Dr. Jiang Yanyong, urging the government to admit errors on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was not "authorized" by the authorities. Follow the links for more information.

Companion post at eTALKINGHEAD.