What do you do on a Monday at YouTube when you notice that the traffic stats from China have halted to a number way too close to zero for comfort? That is exactly what happened yesterday when YouTube officials noticed that he traffic from China had halted, and no, it wasn't just a case of “The Mondays”.
It seems that the Tibetan government in exile released a video showing Chinese police brutally beating some Tibetan protestors. The video is still available on YouTube and with a search you can find it, but warning it is pretty graphic at some parts.
It isn’t too out of the ordinary for a country to block internet users from accessing YouTube though; already Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey have blocked the site. China’s internet population is booming and it seems that the government is looking to step in and sensor the user experience wherever they wish.
It will be interesting to see if the government relations personal at YouTube will be successful in negotiating this one out… stay tuned and for the full story read the NY Times article.