Journalists who landed for Olympics were surprised to know that most of the popular websites were not working inside China. That even included Wikipedia. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) came under severe criticism for allowing Chinese officials to hold on to their crazy censorship.
International human rights activists have raised their voices on this issue. They have mentioned that censorship of internet during Olympics is a violation of basic human rights and have requested for an uncensored internet access.
Though the restriction to Chinese citizens has been imposed for years, it has recently become an international point of discussion due to the Olympics and the journalists. Initially BOCOG, Chinese Olympic Organizers and the International Olympic Committee IOC stated that they would lift restrictions. However, it turned out to be no good as it was just partial.
The Chinese government has removed few sites from its ban and has blocked sites categorized as “against national interest” or “seditious”. Journalists still have difficulty accessing their company sites or their high secure servers. China has broken its promise of providing an unconditional internet access to sports journalists.