01 August 2008
China lifts some internet restrictions
NYT) Beijing appears to have lifted some of the restrictions that blocked websites for journalists working at the Olympic Village although other politically sensitive sites, including those on Tibet, remain inaccessible. The IOC also sought to counter statements made by one of its top press officials that suggested that IOC negotiators had quietly acquiesced to the restrictions. Giselle Davies, a spokeswoman for the organising committee, said a misunderstanding had led to the contradictory versions of events, but she stressed that organisers have always been adamant about unfettered internet access for the 20,000 foreign journalists covering the Games. The loosening of restrictions, however limited, came after senior committee officials urged Olympic organisers to reconsider their decision to maintain a ban on politically sensitive sites, which critics said violated previous pledges Beijing had made to provide uncensored internet access to reporters. Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organising committee, declined to confirm whether there had been a change in policy. "We are fulfilling a promise to provide good working conditions for reporters covering the Olympic Games", he said in a telephone interview. "Internet access is sufficient and convenient".