

Not long after reporting that the Chinese-language editions of the Wall Street Journal and Reuters were unblocked in the mainland, greatfire.org, a censorship-tracking website, has announced that the Guardian has been completely blocked.

Breaking News: The Guardian blocked in China first time in recent history https://t.co/Tx3kiaAt1Z (Via Jon @JRKaiman ) — GreatFire.org (@GreatFireChina) January 8, 2014



The website was apparently blocked on Tuesday. This is the first time in recent history that the Guardian has been completely blocked in the mainland.

According to the publication:

The reasons for the Guardian block are unclear – no China-related stories published by the Guardian in the past two days would obviously be perceived as dangerous by the country’s leadership. One article, published on 6 January, explores tensions in China’s ethnically-divided north-western region Xinjiang, but the Guardian has covered the subject before without any noticeable fallout.

Very unusual for China to block media in English nowadays. Besides Guardian, only known examples are NYT and bloomberg on Xi's wealth. — GreatFire.org (@GreatFireChina) January 8, 2014



The New York Times has been entirely blocked in China since 2012, when the Times’ Shanghai bureau chief David Barboza published an investigative report following the the secret wealth of former premier Wen Jiabao‘s family members. Bloomberg likewise found itself on the wrong side of The Great Firewall in 2012 after publishing an article detailing the amounted wealth of Xi Jinping’s family.

As of 3:00 p.m., Shanghaiist has been unable to access the website without VPN.

The Guardian said that it is unclear whether this most recent block will be permanent or temporary.



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