Google.com blocked by China

Surfers still getting censored version of Google – its Chinese language version www.google.cn

PARIS : China has blocked Google search engine as part of its efforts to curb surfers' access to the world wide web, media reports said.

Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog, said surfers in most of the major cities in China experienced difficulty connecting to the uncensored version of the search engine behemoth www.google.com.

The difficulty in accessing Google.com surfaced a week back, Reporters Without Borders said.

Reporters Without Borders also charged that Chinese authorities have started spreading the checks to Google News and Google Mail services as they apprehend trouble from the vast army of Chinese surfers eager to exploit the immense potential of the Internet.

This is despite the fact that Google has complied with the Communist State's online censorship policies, drawing flak worldwide.

Chinese authorities are waging this technological war in a bid to strangulate net users, whom, they fear, would gain access to a wide range of information, which could trigger their democratic aspirations.

But the Chinese surfers are still getting the censored Chinese language version of Google – www.google.cn

The Chinese version launched in January triggered a row worldwide as the search engine giant agreed to censor surfing to placate the world's most populous country's Communist rulers.

Google is treading cautiously on the issue with a company spokesperson saying it was "looking into the issue".

Google spokeswoman Cui Jin said in Beijing that the firm launched an investigation last week.

Reporters Without Borders has also charged that authorities have managed to freeze software such as Dynapass, Ultrasurf, Freegate and Garden Networks, which are used to gain access to news blocked by China from the world wide web.

US-based techies analyzing the situation said the Chinese authorities were making unprecedented efforts to curb the flow of information from the world wide web.

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