The Wall Street Journal looks at how Google may have been confused by the recent access difficulties of their search engine in China:
China operates one of the most extensive and sophisticated Internet-filtering systems in the world, according to analysts who have studied it. The system, unofficially dubbed the Great Firewall after China’s most famous ancient defense installation, blocks access to a range of foreign content, from criticism of China’s leaders to information about sensitive historical events.
A temporary disruption in Google’s new Chinese search site left some scratching their heads over Beijing’s censorship methods. WSJ’s Loretta Chao explains how the censorship works, and why confusion might be part of the plan.
China generally doesn’t tell its people when it is interfering with their Web access, unlike some other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, that give explanatory warning messages when users are denied access to forbidden sites.
Instead, China’s filtering can look to users like a technical glitch—an error message in a user’s browser that makes it seem like his connection to the Internet malfunctioned. Authorities don’t discuss the methods or tools they use.
See also: “A handy cheat sheet for interpreting the Google China story” from Imagethief.
