China Blocks Foursquare; Too Many People Checking Into Tian’anmen
June 4, 2010 | Filed Under GFW, foursquare |The Chinese censors are a sight to behold. As in how fast they react. It’s an open secret that while Twitter is probably chock-full of “the wrong people” (to the censors), the censors themselves are there, too.
Given that, well, are we surprised? China has blocked foursquare — apparently because we’ve seen too much of this…
…and because foursquare speaks to both Twitter and Facebook, some of us posted that onto — right… especially Twitter. The censors probably went, “Ah…” and boom — blocked the site outright.
Jeepers. This is the stuff that must have the censors soiling in their pants. Virtually hundreds of people checked into Tian’anmen Square, the place where “something baaad happened” 21 years ago. Of course, the square itself is “safe” (in the real world) today, with cops even in helmets, as well as SWAT forces, all reported in the vicinity of the world’s largest square.
In place of student demonstrators and their banners, we have people basically filing into foursquare and leaving “sensitive comments” as “tips”. Those checking in included folks outside Beijing; @isaac (Isaac Mao), @rejon (Jon Philips) and the rest just flocked to the square, even if they were based elsewhere. (You can do this, by the way, by going to the Foursquare mobile site or even the main site and change your location — although if you’re not actually there, that could be seen as cheating…)
Can we call this politicized cheating — or a way to remind ourselves that something baaad happened on this day?
Foursquare. Dead to China beginning in the afternoon hours of June 4, 2010. (Confirmed here in Beijing.) You’ll have to reroute to get in…
Late night update: We have updates that this is indeed a nationwide block. Here’s a list of other cities in which foursquare is invisible: Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou (thanks, @APE_kIng @EnjoyCHH @Marvinlou @warrenLOL for the updates).
Yet another update: Good news (if there’s any) for those who did check in: you automatically got the Swarm badge and the Player Please! badge. As they say, to every cloud there’s always a silver lining…
[...] to Techblog86, a tech news blog in China, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of users accessing the [...]
Pingback by Tibet Right.org : Chommy, Foursquare Mayor May Be Blocked From Tian’anmen Square Check-ins? — June 4, 2010 #
[...] I personally couldn’t care less that Foursquare got blocked (see David Feng’s blog on how this went down). Yes, I should defend the online rights of my friends who want to spam their social networks [...]
Pingback by 21 years: Modern China is too busy to remember | CNReviews — June 4, 2010 #
chinese governments is always love to blocked every website on this planet.this is why communism is not suitable for internet users.
Comment by jacobian — June 4, 2010 #
[...] to this blog post from a news site covering tech news in China, there’s been a dramatic increase in the number [...]
Pingback by Foursquare Blocked In China After Users Check-In To Tiananmen Square | Mobile Marketing Watch — June 4, 2010 #
[...] in China have blocked Foursquare, allegedly due to too many check-ins from Tian’anmen Square. Though this location might seem innocuous [...]
Pingback by Foursquare shut down by Tian’anmen Square. — June 4, 2010 #
[...] multe informatii aici si aici. For more, follow TNW Romania on twitter, Buzz, and Facebook. Follow TNW Network on twitter, Buzz, [...]
Pingback by China blocheaza Foursquare — June 5, 2010 #
[...] which blogs about China, noted the blocking earlier today, and confirmed that it is blocked in Beijing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and [...]
Pingback by Foursquare ‘Tiananmen’ protests blocked by Chinese internet censors | Daily News| Latest Daily News About World News, Business, Tech and Entertainment — June 5, 2010 #
[...] The Great Firewall of China has a new Target: Foursquare. The Chinese government has blocked access to the social networking tool, apparently because too many people were checking in to Tiananmen Square. This ban comes on the [...]
Pingback by China Blocks Foursquare After Users Checkin to Tiananmen Square — June 5, 2010 #
[...] China Blocks Foursquare; Too Many People Checking Into Tian’anmen. Via [...]
Pingback by PW2 Web Blog S’M Special: China Blocks FourSquare on Tian’anmen Anniversary « — June 5, 2010 #
[...] China Foursquare-Superuser David Feng reported today, Foursquare is presently blocked in China. Feng provides the logical (in the Chinese government [...]
Pingback by “Foreign” location services were bound to be blocked in China sooner than later — June 5, 2010 #
[...] China Foursquare-Superuser David Feng reported today, Foursquare is presently blocked in China. Feng provides the logical (in the Chinese government [...]
Pingback by “Foreign” location services were bound to be blocked in China sooner than later — June 5, 2010 #
[...] Fuente: Techblog86 [...]
Pingback by China bloquea Foursquare para ahogar el recuerdo de Tian’anmen | ddg — June 5, 2010 #
[...] to this blog post from a news site covering tech news in China, there’s been a dramatic increase in the number [...]
Pingback by Foursquare Blocked In China After Users Check-In To Tiananmen Square | Mobile Marketing Vehicles — June 5, 2010 #
Great story. Any examples of the sensitive comments?
Also, just curious: are there only Lakers fans in China?
Comment by Sara Fitzpatrick Comito — June 5, 2010 #
[...] in to … The Great Firewall of China has a new target: Foursquare. The Chinese government has blocked access to the social networking tool, apparently because too many people were checking in to Tiananmen [...]
Pingback by China Blocks Foursquare After Users Check in to Tiananmen Square « Herit Shah | t7mily World of information — June 5, 2010 #
[...] władze zablokowały dostęp do serwisu społecznościowego Foursquare - informuje David Feng, prowadzący bloga na temat chińskiej części Internetu. Powodem jest to, że za dużo [...]
Pingback by Portale społecznościowe: Nasza klasa, Facebook, Blip, Myspace, Twitter, YouTube, Grono, Wykop » Chiny blokują Foursquare z powodu rocznicy masakry na Tiananmen — June 5, 2010 #
[...] got a little more creative, checking into Tiananmen Square using Foursquare and leaving, as Techblog86 calls it, “sensitive comments” in place of tips. What’s interesting is that it appears that [...]
Pingback by China Blocks FourSquare (Find Out Why) | Parcbench — June 5, 2010 #
[...] Great Firewall of China has a new target: Foursquare. The Chinese government has blocked access to the social networking tool, apparently because too many people were checking in to Tiananmen [...]
Pingback by China Blocks Foursquare After Users Check in to Tiananmen Square | RetweetToday.com | News for Us, by Us! — June 5, 2010 #
[...] Bans Foursquare ShareAccording to techblog86.com – after hundreds of people checked in at Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government took down [...]
Pingback by China Bans Foursquare — June 5, 2010 #
[...] Great Firewall of China has a new target: Foursquare. The Chinese government has blocked access to the social networking tool, apparently because too many people were checking in to Tiananmen [...]
Pingback by China Blocks Foursquare After Users Check in to Tiananmen Square | iuvo Shopper & Community Newspaper News — June 5, 2010 #
[...] to Chinese site Techblog86, the ban was triggered by a deluge of impassioned Foursquare users checking into the Square. And these virtual protestors began improvising with the ability to leave “tips” for fellow [...]
Pingback by China Bans Foursquare Over Excessive Tiananmen Checkins : Test Drive — June 5, 2010 #
@Sara Thanks!
We have fans from both sides… just that the screenshot only showed you one.
In regards to the comments, they were more like “Never Forget June 4th”, as well as a few überpolitical ones that would send “The Party” going stark staring bonkers.
Comment by DavidFeng — June 5, 2010 #
[...] China Blocks Foursquare; Too Many People Checking Into Tian’anmen – techblog88 [...]
Pingback by The Braindead Techcast Ep. 75: Techmeme Friday and a nice cold beer - SeanPAune.com — June 5, 2010 #
Why china is doing all, there are many users who want to meet online friends, share pictures and ideas…
May be in coming days, it would be solved
Comment by Ritu Sharma — June 5, 2010 #
I think checking into the square is a beautiful example of using social networking to memorialize a tragic event and remember those most effected.
It’s a tragedy that the Chinese government jails the free exchange of information like they do. Using the control of information as a source of power they’re only crippling the creativity and resourcefulness of their own citizens. I don’t see how they can continue the advances their experiencing while at the same time limiting their citizens ability to express themselves.
Give. Get. Give.
-Chase Brumfield
Comment by Chase Brumfield — June 5, 2010 #
@Ritu: Let’s hope it gets back soon… although honestly, if it’s blocked for good (a la Twitter), I am seriously going to be un-surprised…
Comment by DavidFeng — June 5, 2010 #
@Chase: Thankfully, the more 2.0 of us, especially those doing 2.0 on sites outside China (say Twitter), are amongst some of the “most in the know”. We know all too often that we’re being inundated with anything BUT the truth and we’ve the tools to get to the real scoop on our own.
Yesterday, as soon as my screen started cropping up with Tian’anmen checkins by the freightload, I went, “oh shat, foursquare is gonna get blocked today”… and before I tweeted it, boom, there it went. Quite literally.
Comment by DavidFeng — June 5, 2010 #
[...] to Chinese tech blog, Techblog86, there has been huge increase in number of people checking out Tiananmen Square massacre on [...]
Pingback by China Blocks Foursquare over Tiananmen Square massacre | webcovery.com — June 5, 2010 #
Foursquare is blocked here in Shanghai too. Have you noticed though that google.cn ’s mobile site is still up and running on the mainland? It still works fine for me here on an ipod touch. No redirect to HK. Weird. Maybe they forgot about that one…
Comment by jC — June 6, 2010 #
[...] Techblog86, a China-based site first broke the news of people checking in to “Tiananmen Square” and were leaving “sensitive comments” on the page for others to see. Those comments were shared with friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. China, objecting to such comments, decided to block the service in an attempt to quell the protest In place of student demonstrators and their banners, we have people basically filing into foursquare and leaving “sensitive comments” as “tips”. Those checking in included folks outside Beijing; @isaac (Isaac Mao), @rejon (Jon Philips) and the rest just flocked to the square, even if they were based elsewhere. (You can do this, by the way, by going to the Foursquare mobile site or even the main site and change your location — although if you’re not actually there, that could be seen as cheating…) [...]
Pingback by Foursquare banned in China — June 7, 2010 #
[...] un poco más creativos, comprobando en la Plaza de Tiananmen con Foursquare y dejando, como Techblog86 lo llama, “comentarios sensibles” en lugar de consejos. Lo que es interesante es que [...]
Pingback by China bloquea Foursquare después que los usuarios chequean Tiananmen Square — June 7, 2010 #
[...] Mehr Informationen findet Ihr hier auf dem techblog86 [...]
Pingback by Foursquare in China gesperrt — June 7, 2010 #
[...] which was founded in 2009, now has over 2 million users and is gaining in popularity. In fact, China recently blocked FourSquare access in their country due to too many people checking [...]
Pingback by What is Social Media? | SocialSower.com - Social Media Management — August 6, 2010 #