Chinese Authorities Block Comedy Central and Other Entertainment Websites

Human Rights in China has learned that the Chinese authorities are currently (as of June 19) blocking an IP address hosting Comedy Central, the U.S.-based comedy cable television channel, along with several other entertainment websites.

How can China aspire to the world stage when it continues to censor what its own people can watch or even laugh at? — Sharon Hom, Executive Director of HRIC

Among programs cut off by the blockage are The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, and South Park – Comedy Central programs with a wide international audience.

Other sites blocked include VH1, Country Music TV, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, and MTV Chi, a site featuring Chinese and Chinese-American music.

It is unknown why the government blocked access to these websites.

“As China prepares for the opening of the Beijing Olympics, the authorities are not only clamping down on domestic civil society, they are also continuing to expand the net of Internet censorship,” said Human Rights in China Executive Director Sharon Hom. “How can China aspire to the world stage when it continues to censor what its own people can watch or even laugh at?”

The Colbert Report aired a segment on Monday evening satirizing guidelines for conduct by foreign visitors during the Games, issued by China earlier this month. But Internet users said the Comedy Central site was blocked at least a few days before that broadcast.

At the same time, Internet users reported that Anonymouse.org, a proxy service used by many in China to access blocked websites and surf the Internet anonymously, was also blocked by the authorities. The blockage was first reported in Internet postings on Monday afternoon.

For more information about the legal guidelines for foreign visitors, see:

• "HRIC Press Advisory: Legal Guidelines for Foreigners—Olympic Traps for Foreigners," June 5, 2008, http://hrichina.org/public/contents/55647.