Around 9 p.m. Beijing time, google.com and multiple Google applications including Gmail were not accessible to Chinese users, while the China-based Google.cn remained normal. The access recovered at around 11:20 p.m. in most areas.
Google China did not respond to questions regarding to the block, but did not deny the temporary shutdown of Google services.
Following the shutdown, on Thursday Chinese authorities accused the English version of Google.com for spreading “pornographic, lewd and vulgar content.” Analysts interpret the shutdown as a sign of the escalation of China’s Internet censorship, and predict that Google, as the leading search engine provider, will face greater pressure in China.
The accusation echoed similar criticism from China’s official Internet watchdog about a week ago. Google promised to make efforts to eliminate pornographic content from search results.
Read the original Chinese article
