China Shuts Down YouTube, News Access To Censor Tibet Violence

March 17, 2008 6:34 a.m. EST

Beijing, China (AHN) - The Chinese government has reportedly cut off national access to video sharing website YouTube, after footage of the recent Tibetan protest crackdown were uploaded and made available for public viewing.

Upon the posting of videos of the violent scenes that took place in the Tibetan caputal of Lhasa, users attempting to access the website were instead met with an error message on a blank screen.

The acts of censorship are the most recent attempts of the government to control and curb information access. According to the AFP, the only publicly released videos of the incident showed Tibetan protesters in the act of destroying Chinese establishments.

Access to other websites containing information on the crackdown have also been blocked, and the overall use of the Internet was decreased with the closing of Internet café shops.

"At this stage I think it's really difficult in Lhasa to use the Internet at all," said a Tibetan journalist located in Nepal.

News coverage of BBC and CNN were also censored for the day, and a live statement from the Dalai Lama was cut and replaced with nothing but a blank screen.

According to the journalist, known only as Lhuboom, landline and mobile phone services were also cut off, and whatever phone services obtained were joined with fears of wiretapping.

"People suspect that the Chinese government are listening to their phones, so they don't talk," said Lhuboom. "They are afraid."

According to the Telegraph, the nationwide access block stood in contrast with last year's situation in Burma, where the local government failed to censor images and videos of local authorities resorting to violent crackdowns of protesters and monks.

While the Burmese government managed to censor global spread of images and video, the Chinese officials managed to cut footages shown by Western broadcasters only to those provided by the state broadcaster.

Foreigners and tourists attempting to enter the Tibetan capital were also denied access