wallydownundy

I was in Beijing for a week and got home yesterday - I attended the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) semi-annual global conference. This was a great event with attendees from every corner of the world. I met Nigerians, Poles, Swedes, Americans, Canadians, Peruvians, Taiwanese and Chinese public relations professionals. Day One began with a session in the Great Hall of the People on Tienanmen Square.

Yet I could not blog during my visit. WallyDownUndy is blocked in China.

It’s odd to encounter censorship first-hand. As an Australian-American I have always enjoyed freedom of speech. And part of that freedom includes being critical of government when you believe government is wrong or irresponsible. (From Monica Lewinsky to Weapons of Mass Destruction I’m an equal opportunity critic.)

In the past I’ve blogged about China. An earlier post shows the Tibet riots on YouTube. Whenever I mention Taiwan my readership spikes - even more than the time I mentioned Pamela Lee Anderson! (Go Taiwan!)  So a censor in China decided my blog did not meet their readership criteria.

I didn’t cotton on immediately. It started when I was trying to mark a comment as spam. (Note to spammers: Comments about ’sex tapes’ do stand out on a blog about global public relations trends. Our executives are not that spicy.) I assumed it was a bad Internet connection and tried the next morning.

Given that I could not managed comments and could not post, I then tried to read the blog. It was then I realised it was blocked. Other blogs were open and available.

So my apologies to anyone in China who previously enjoyed my blog. And to fellow bloggers, a recommendation: Denounce China in any posting and you’ll be censored.