Reporters Sans Barricades

Posted on August 1, 2008
Filed Under Apparatchiks, Beijing Olympics, China Internet, GFW |

Reuters, via Yahoo News reports:

IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said earlier this week that some IOC officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites to the media, despite repeated promises of a free Internet, but on Friday officials backtracked, saying once again there would be unrestricted access.

“The issue has been solved,” IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg told Reuters.

“The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed,” she said, referring to Beijing’s Olympic organizers. “Internet use will be just like in any Olympics.”

The issue of Internet censorship was only the latest of a series of issues, from human rights, to reporting restrictions, to China’s policies in Darfur and Tibet, that have prompted criticism of its Communist leadership.

Although Internet access will be free for reporters for the period of the Games, it is still tightly controlled for the rest of the country.

This means the media center will have free access, but not anywhere else such as hotels, bars, cafes, etc., etc. Why BOCOG didn’t do this in the first place amazes me. The issue wouldn’t have gone away, but it certainly wouldn’t have blown up in their face. They’ve managed to go from defiance to weasel in less than 24 hours.

And they’re still going to get crap for this.