Bottom line: The latest blockage of Reuters sites in China is probably temporary and related to coverage during the recent National People’s Congress, but still reflects the very real risk of doing business in the tightly controlled media market.
China’s latest crackdown on foreign media has just netted global news giant Reuters (Toronto: RTR), in a potentially worrisome trend that has seen Chinese censors block a growing number of websites operated by big multinationals. Despite longer-term crackdowns on big names like Bloomberg and the New York Times, Reuters had managed to largely steer clear of China’s censors and its websites have remained largely accessible in China for most of the last 2 years.
But I couldn’t access any of Reuters sites in Shanghai starting last Thursday, and later reports confirmed the company’s Chinese- and English-language websites have been blocked throughout the country since then. (English article) Before I go any further, I should disclose that I previously worked at Reuters for a decade, and maintain contact with many of my former colleagues 4 years after leaving the company. Reuters Chinese site also is a regular user of my work, though apparently none of that has been viewable in China for the last few days. Read Full Post…
