IOC cuts censorship deal with Chinese

 

Gallery

By Reuters

Posted on 30 Jul 2008 at 11:32

International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials have cut a deal with China to allow the blocking of sensitive websites during the Beijing Games.

"It has been my belief ... that the international media would enjoy free and open access to the internet at Games time for reporting the Olympic Games and that censorship would not be an issue," says Kevan Gosper, chairman of the IOC's press commission.

"I regret that it now appears the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has announced that there will be limitations on website access during Games time and while I understand that sensitive material not related to the Olympic Games continues to be a matter for the Chinese, I believe BOCOG and the IOC should have conveyed a clear message to the international media, in so far as this affects internet access, at an earlier stage.

"I also now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related."

China says it remains committed to providing media with the same freedom to report on the Games as they enjoyed at previous Olympics and it loosened controls over foreigners reporting in the country in January 2007.

But attempts to use the internet at the main press centre to access the website of Amnesty International, which released a report slamming China for failing to honour its Olympic human rights pledges, continues to prove fruitless.

Other websites, most specifically those relating to the banned spiritual group Falun Gong, are also inaccessible to reporters.