Chinese micro-blogging sites Digu and Zuosa were both shut down for maintenance on 21 July. Wen Yunchao, a well-known blogger, said having two sites close on the same day indicates pressure from authorities for them to shut down. He said the timing of the closures was probably related to the 10-year anniversary on 22 July of the banning of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Read more here
Twitter and YouTube are among several sites that have been blocked in China’s Xinjiang province, as the authorities attempt to control rioting in the area.
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China’s controversial plan to install Green Dam internet filtering software on all computers will go ahead despite previous postponements, a government official told state media today saying it was only “a matter of time” until the software was installed. Meanwhile the Telepragh has reported that Green Dam has already been downloaded three million times since the end of March and has been installed on 518,000 computers. Read more here
One of China’s most prominent political activists has been formally arrested for inciting subversion. Liu Xiaobo is accused of spreading rumours and defaming the government, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. Mr Liu’s arrest comes six months after he was taken into custody. Read more here