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Report: China shuts down dozens of blogs

Popular and outspoken private blogs are taken down as part of Chinese government's latest effort to control social networking, according to the AP.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read

The Chinese government has abruptly shut down dozens of blogs in its latest attempt to control the growing tide of social networking, according to the Associated Press.

The crackdown, which apparently surfaced Wednesday, has affected both blogs and shorter microblogs, which have become a popular method to spread the word and rally support about sensitive issues there. The move has led to many blogs disappearing from Sohu, home to popular microblogs by outspoken writers and lawyers, said the AP, quoting several bloggers whose posts had been shut down.

Sina is one of several sites hosting blogs shut down in China.
Sina is one of several sites hosting blogs shut down in China. Sina

A lawyer named Pu Zhiqiang told the AP that he had been writing a new post when he suddenly discovered that his blog couldn't open. A legal expert named Xu Zhiyong also reported that his blog was closed. Another blogger Yao Yuan said that he knew of at least 61 blogs on Sohu that are now blocked, according to the AP.

Other Chinese blogs affected by the shutdown include those hosted at Netease, Tencent, and Sina.

The AP could not reach Chinese government officials for comment, and some the companies hosting the blogs sites weren't talking either. However, a Netease representative did assert that its microblog site was down as a result of maintenance to upgrade certain features, according to China Daily.

China's attempts to control the the flow of information in and out of the Internet have been a constant battle and source of conflict, from its rocky relationship with Google to its continual censorship. The country has a history of cracking down on blogs and other types of information that it decides is "harmful" to its citizens.