IOC admits censorship of Internet sites

 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has acknowledged an agreement with China to censor Internet sites during the upcoming Summer Games. This was announced by IOC press chief Kevan Gosper according to SDA. Gosper had previously assured that the 21,500 media people accredited for the Olympic Games in Beijing would have free access to the Internet. He had now learned that IOC representatives had negotiated with the Chinese to block some critical sites because they had no connection to the Games. He regretted that there did not seem to be unhindered access to the internet after all.
Attempts to click on the Amnesty International website from the Games press center were in vain on Wednesday. The organization had expressed criticism of the human rights situation in China the day before. The sites of the Falun Gong meditation movement, which is banned in China, could not be accessed either.