China Blocks Wikipedia Encrypted Version Ahead Of Tiananmen Anniversary

Posted on Jun 3 2013 - 10:47am by Editorial Staff

With history of blocking US-based search engine and social networking websites from time-to-time, China added a new name to its blocking trend. This time it has blocked the encrypted version of Wikipedia, reports GreatFire (via The Next Web). The move reportedly comes ahead of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 anniversary.

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The banning to the encrypted version of Wikipedia starts via port blocking i.e. by blocking port 443 while HTTPs connections are typically established and users are allowed only to visit port 80 where HTTP connections are made available.

“The HTTPS version of Wikipedia is blocked while the HTTP version is not. This method forces users in China to use the unencrypted HTTP version, which is subject to keyword filtering,” says GreatFire in a report. “Based on the existing evidence, it’s more likely that GFW would leave Wikipedia alone.”

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