China reportedly blocked the photo sharing app Instagram to censor any mention of the use of tear gas in pro-democrasy protests in Hong Kong.
Instagram is one of the few remaining social networking applications accessible in China. Users in Beijing reported that new posts on the app are no longer loading. The Chinese government never mention reasons why they block websites and apps, but blocking Instagram can be linked to the protest happening in Hong Kong. The government usually say that they block sites because they broke the law.
Hong Kong police use tear gas to contain the crowd of protesters in downtown Hong Kong on Sunday. The intimidation done to the student democracy protest incited public anger. The police issued a warning Sunday night that lockdown was implemented on several downtown areas. Protest participants are being encouraged by the government to finish the sit-in protests. Students are now joined by the city's influential bar association.
Blockedinchina.net confirms that the photo sharing app is blocked in Beijing, Shenzen, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang Province and Yunnan Province. Greatfire.org, however, shows that only 14% of Instagram in China is currently blocked.
"We are aware of reports that people are having difficulty accessing Instagram and looking into it," said Instagram in an email to PCWorld Monday.
Aside from Instagram, one of the most popular website on China, Sina Weibo, has blocked the search of the keyword "tear gas." News articles regarding the event are also being blocked. Baidu, the largest search engine site in China, said Monday that results for "Hong Kong Tear Gas" are blocked. Numerous other sites in the country are taking down articles related to the protest on Sunday.
In May of this year, China blocked all Google powered websites such as Gmail, Blogger and Google.com, the search engine that catered unfiltered results to users. Youtube was blocked from October 2007 to March 2008 and was blocked again in March 2008.
Hong Kong students have staged a week-long sit-in protests. The crowd grew into thousands Saturday. On Monday, the protesters have refused to listen to the government's plea to disperse.
