China Shut Downs More Than 40% of Websites in 2010 [Study]

According to study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China has reportedly shut down more than 40% of the websites based in the country between 2009 and 2010.

Although 1.3 million of million Chinese sites were shut down the study feels that there is a high level of Internet freedom in the country. “This means our content is getting stronger, while our supervision is getting more strict and more regulated,” Liu Ruisheng, a Chinese researcher told the BBC.

Despite Chinese constitution providing the right to speech, the government was able to shut down the websites by bringing up “subversion of state power” act and then Chinese government has tightened regulations on websites based on the content they post. The Human Rights groups have termed this as “The Great Firewall of China”.