The Toronto Star has been banned in China, according to reports from citizens living there.

The Star is among global news websites, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, The Guardian, NBC News and The Globe and Mail, which have been blocked by the Chinese government.

There are thousands of blocked sites, including those posting politically sensitive material, said Samuel Wade, deputy editor of China Digital Times, who studies censorship and surveillance in China.

“For years, interference with access to most foreign language sites was relatively limited, with authorities relying on language barriers as a filter. More recently, especially under Xi Jinping (president of China) things have tightened up,” he says.

Wade said some news sites are blocked more or less indefinitely, especially those which have published particularly aggressive reporting on top Chinese leaders’ business interests.

“In other cases, blocks come and go,” he said. “Censorship in general tends to tighten ahead of particularly sensitive events such as major political meetings or the recent Tiananmen anniversary.”

Recently, Wade noted China blocked CNN around June 4, the anniversary of the protests and deaths in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Usually, the network is accessible in the region. The block on CNN has since been lifted.

Wade said “it can be hard to pinpoint the start of a new block,” because China doesn’t provide those details.

China’s ministry of foreign affairs did not immediately respond to the Star’s request for comment.

Temur Durrani is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @temurdur

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