Welcome to China; please be quiet (Technology)

Hell hath no fury like the media scorned, which means the Olympics should be a blast to watch on multiple levels.

The International Olympic Committee has announced that China is going to block certain “sensitive” Web sites during the course of the Olympics despite their earlier promises of delivering the same kind of unrestricted Internet access that foreign reporters are accustomed to. I understand why this is important news, but I don’t understand why some people are surprised.

Seriously folks, raise your hand if you didn’t see this one coming.

China’s governing communist body has decided there are some things about their country that are best kept under wraps. As a result, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG for short) are blocking any site that criticizes, jeopardizes, or just flat out doesn’t like China’s communist leadership.

It’s almost like they’re communists or something. Odd.

Chief among the blacklisted sites are Amnesty International and the official Website of a human rights group called “Falun Gong,” which has been described to the international press by BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide as “an evil, fake religion which has been banned by the Chinese government.”

And while numerous members of foreign media in Beijing have complained about this limited access, Paris-based media group Reporters Without Borders are making the most noise. They also claim that the censorship will only get worse.

On the Reporters Without Borders Website, the front-page features a picture of the Olympic Rings composed entirely of handcuffs. I guess they don’t believe in subtlety. “This is yet another provocation by the Chinese authorities,” the Website claims before supplying readers with detailed instructions on how to avoid Chinese firewalls that are blocking certain sites.

Provocation? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing is for sure, though. With the Olympics a scant nine days away, the air quality in Beijing isn’t the only mess that China has on its hands.

What this entire situation lacks is a sense of compromise, and in that respect, watchdog media groups are just as despicable as China’s censorship policy.

Sure, China doesn’t really give off the requisite “hello world let’s feel good and get happy” vibe that every Olympic Committee would like to see host countries exude during the games, but then again, not all media is friendly, either.

Does China have a thing or two to hide? Yes they do, but for as shady as they can be, they’re also perfectly aware that certain media groups are hell bent on raking China over the coals (even if they do deserve it) and that’s a situation China would rather avoid.

So groups like Reporters Without Borders are right. It is going to get worse, but it’s going to get increasingly difficult to assign blame as we move forward since Reporters without Borders is essentially advertising how to break the rules that BOCOG has in place; even if those rules aren’t fair.

Every time the Olympics rolls around, there is always a group of people who use it as an opportunity to voice political concerns, but this is the most potentially serious case in awhile.

Hey, did you know there’s going to be sporting events at the Olympics too?

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.