Last week this blog noted that the state-sponsored Global Times had published an article entitled "Hackers, Bloggers and Professors Team Up to Tap into Blocked Microblog Content." Some excerpts:
From the list of blocked keywords provided on the website, it is also clear when some words become sensitive and when such scrutiny is lifted.
For instance, the name of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing who was recently prosecuted on corruption charges, was banned from searches until July 25, the day the news of his prosecution was announced.
. . . .
China's regulation on Internet information lists nine types of banned content, most of which concerns national security, state unity, rumors, pornography and violence. But in practice it isn't always clear where the line is and in the event of a breaking incident, certain words or phrases that are otherwise normal might become sensitive for a period of time.
Data provided by Greatfire has been used by other researchers to get to grips with Internet restrictions. In May, for instance, two professors from Northwestern University in the US used its data to study how the GFW affects users' online behavior.
That article, which was originally available here - http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/799621.shtml - has been deleted. The following video shows what happens when a user tried to access the article on August 2.
The Global Times has been known to repost deleted articles, so perhaps this one will return as well.
