China Blocking YouTube

The government of China is blocking YouTube, the online video broadcasting service operated by Google of Mountain View, apparently because users had uploaded videos of recent protests againt Chinese rule in Tibet. As reported in the San Francisco chronicle:

Internet users in China were blocked from seeing YouTube.com on Sunday after dozens of videos about protests in Tibet appeared on the popular U.S. video Web site. The blocking added to the communist government’s efforts to control what the public saw and heard about protests that erupted Friday in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, against Chinese rule.

Access to YouTube.com, usually readily available in China, was blocked after videos appeared on the site Saturday showing foreign news reports about the Lhasa demonstrations, montages of photos and scenes from Tibet-related protests abroad. There were no protest scenes posted on China-based video Web sites such as 56.com, youku.com and tudou.com. The Chinese government has not commented on its move to prevent access to YouTube. Internet users trying to call up the Web site were presented with a blank screen.