IOC
says confident on free internet for Beijing 2022 Olympics
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[October 12, 2016]
By Michael Martina
BEIJING (Reuters) - The International
Olympics Committee is confident China will guarantee uncensored
internet when it hosts the 2022 Winter Games, a senior IOC official
said on Wednesday, though China has given no details about how its
pledge will work.
China keeps a tight rein on the internet. The government has warned
that social media, particularly foreign services, could be a
destabilizing force for Chinese society and even jeopardize
security.
Popular foreign social media sites like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
and Facebook as well as Google Inc's main search engine and Gmail
service are all inaccessible in China without specialized software
to vault what is known as the "Great Firewall".
"It's guaranteed in the bid," IOC Vice President Juan Antonio
Samaranch Jr., the son of the late Juan Antonio Samaranch, who led
the IOC from 1980 to 2001, told reporters in Beijing when asked
about free internet in 2022.
"All the experience that we've had with Beijing is that they've
always delivered on their word. We are confident that will be the
case."
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China had committed to providing media with the same freedom to
report on the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics as they enjoyed at
previous Games.
But when the main press center opened, journalists complained of
finding access to sites deemed sensitive to China's communist
leadership blocked. A IOC official later admitted that some IOC
officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites.
Zhang Jiandong, a Beijing vice mayor and vice president of the
Winter Olympics organizing committee, said China had already made
commitments to have an open internet during the bidding process.
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![](../images/101216pics/sports53.jpg)
A message of congratulation is projected onto the Bird's Nest
Olympic stadium as people celebrate after Beijing was chosen to host
the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing July 31, 2015. REUTERS/Damir
Sagolj
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"During the 2022 Winter Games we will comprehensively open access to
the internet for all (internet) customers, including at the
competition venues, where athletes stay, and other areas."
China's pledge raises the prospect that Chinese spectators will be
able to access otherwise blocked sites while attending the Winter
Games.
However, a Beijing Olympic official said last year that Chinese
"don't like" sites like Facebook and Twitter as China has its own
social media, such as Weibo and WeChat.
Beijing, along with the nearby city of Zhangjiakou, won the right to
host the Games last year. The only other city bidding to host the
event was Kazakhstan's Almaty, after other prospective cities
dropped out citing costs and other worries.
While Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Games to wide acclaim, its bid
for the Winter Games was dogged by concerns over a number of issues,
such as the city's notorious smog, a lack of snow and China's poor
human rights record.
(Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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