Explanation:
The Chinese government has long been suspicious of Wikipedia. It’s been blocked in China intermittently since 2004, and the Chinese-language version has been blocked since June 2015. Now the government has gone even further. The Wikimedia Foundation released a statement on Friday announcing that it had determined that China blocked all versions of Wikipedia.
Reuters and PC Mag noted that the timing of the block seems to coincide with the Tiananmen Square protests, which ended violently on June 4, 1989. When Wikipedia’s official account tweeted that the reasons for the total block were “unknown to us,” a Shanghai-based user responded, “Don’t be daft.”
Censorship of encyclopedias has a long history. In the 18th century, Denis Diderot and other authors of the famous Encyclopédie were denounced as heretics for suggesting that knowledge stems from observation and reason rather than religious tradition or papal authority. In 1752, the French king’s council issued a stop order on its distribution on the basis that the publication was “destroying royal authority and encouraging a spirit of independence and revolt,” a prophetic statement just three decades before the French Revolution.
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We need your support.Know MoreAllWhy China Has Blocked Wikipedia in All LanguagesStephen Harrison
Jun 05, 2019 Hint: Today's the big anniversary.
The Chinese government has long been suspicious of Wikipedia. It’s been blocked in China intermittently since 2004, and the Chinese-language version has been blocked since June 2015. Now the government has gone even further. The Wikimedia Foundation released a statement on Friday announcing that it had determined that China blocked all versions of Wikipedia.
Reuters and PC Mag noted that the timing of the block seems to coincide with the Tiananmen Square protests, which ended violently on June 4, 1989. When Wikipedia’s official account tweeted that the reasons for the total block were “unknown to us,” a Shanghai-based user responded, “Don’t be daft.”
Censorship of encyclopedias has a long history. In the 18th century, Denis Diderot and other authors of the famous Encyclopédie were denounced as heretics for suggesting that knowledge stems from observation and reason rather than religious tradition or papal authority. In 1752, the French king’s council issued a stop order on its distribution on the basis that the publication was “destroying royal authority and encouraging a spirit of independence and revolt,” a prophetic statement just three decades before the French Revolution.
Also read: In Southeast Asia, Internet Freedom Is Rapidly Declining
Blocking a website appears to be the 21st-century equivalent of these encyclopaedic press injunctions, and Wikipedia has dealt with more than its fair share. China first blocked the Chinese-language Wikipedia in June 2004 before the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. Before 2015, countries could even block specific articles because Wikipedia was running on an HTTP protocol. Iran, for example, blocked at least 963 unique articles deemed undesirable for political, religious, or sexual reasons in 2013, including Harry Potter actress Emma Watson’s page.
