Net Nanny on the rampage again as China blocks all BBC News websites

China’s system of web censorship today blocked all the BBC’s news websites. Greatfire.org, which monitors the thousands of sites that get blocked in the country, noticed the development this afternoon. It comes less than 24 hours after a video of Hong Kong police beating an unarmed protestor spread across media outlets as the city’s student-led democracy reform protests took an ugly turn.

BREAKING entire @BBC blocked in China https://t.co/JVas7abj9B. @bbcchinese already blocked for long time h/t @KentCh @feliciasonmez

— GreatFire.org (@GreatFireChina) October 15, 2014

The BBC then confirmed – and condemned – the block of its news sites in an email issued by Peter Horrocks, the director of the BBC World Service, that was tweeted out by Jo Floto, the BBC’s Asia Bureau Chief based in Beijing.

BBC statement on blocking of our websites in China today by @PeterHorrocks1 pic.twitter.com/KsM0Id1EiI

— Jo (@JoFloto) October 15, 2014

The censorship affects not only the BBC News site but also the entire bbc.co.uk and bbc.com domains, which also makes BBC’s streaming radio inaccessible.

China already blocks a number of media outlets, including the New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal. The BBC’s Chinese news service has already been blocked for years.

The most recent major site to become blocked in China was Instagram, which was also due to the Hong Kong “umbrella revolution” protests.