The on-again, off-again ban on the online encyclopedia by China’s Internet censors has been rescinded yet again.
At times, like Saturday night when I had my head in a box of delivery pizza and college football on T.V., I forget that I live in China. Other times, like when I try to use Wikipedia, it cannot be more clear where I am.
Today, the ban on the site has been lifted and Wikipedia in Chinese and English is accessible to all.
The Wikipedia Foundation has long tracked the saga of Chinese blockage and unblockage of the website. They posted news of the lifted ban, the latest episode of the challenge to keep the site available to Chinese Internet users:
As of (at least) October 10, 2006, it appears the block has been lifted, with users from around the country on Chinese-forums.com reporting that Wikipedia is accessible.
Chinese Wikipedians have expressed fears about the detrimental effects that a permanent ban would have. First of all, the block deprives a useful resource from the majority of Chinese speakers in the world.
Moreover, since Mainland Chinese form a significant portion of the Chinese Wikipedia community (46% of all users in March 2005), a long-term block could severely stunt the growth of Wikipedia similar to the block in June 2004.
Finally, as the presence of contributors from multiple communities and viewpoints has helped in ensuring neutrality in some controversial topics (e.g. Taiwanese independence), the sudden removal of one community could exacerbate systemic bias on the Chinese Wikipedia.
Interest persists in the whole Wikimedia concept in China, despite the interventions of government watchdogs. In August, Chinese Wikimedians held a conference in the country to discuss and promote Wikimedia projects across the region, including Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as mainland China.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
