IOC Knew of China’s Olympic Censorship Plans
While it doesn’t surprise me, this news is deeply troubling.
The International Olympic Committee has admitted it knew China planned to block some Internet access for journalists covering the Beijing Olympic Games, despite promising media freedom.
IOC spokesman Kevan Gosper said Wednesday some International Olympic Committee officials had negotiated with China that some sensitive Web sites would be blocked because they were not related to the games.
Olympic organizers previously had promised foreign reporters unrestricted media access during the games, from August 8 through August 24.
But foreign journalists in Beijing reported today that they have been unable to access Web sites for the human rights group Amnesty International, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, and the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Amnesty International is appealing to the Beijing and International Olympic committees to fulfill their commitment to full media freedom.
Reporters Without Borders published a guide on the Internet today with tips for journalists working in China. The guide advises how to get around Internet firewalls, and how to lock computer files and find safe translators.
The Paris-based organization advises reporters to conduct phone calls and write e-mails knowing that they may be monitored.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
Source: Voice of America News, July 30, 2008
Here are a few links to additional coverage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/07/30/ST2008073002956.html
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/2008-summer-o-1.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-jean-kearney/china-tear-down-that-grea_b_115955.html
The IOC now has egg on its face, as it should. To put it bluntly, they lied. Their actions with respect to freedom of speech and freedom of the press in China are deplorable. The IOC has convinced me that the modern Olympic games are now mainly about money; sport is entirely secondary.
As an athlete, albeit a lower-level amateur and recreational athlete, this news saddens me. By these actions, the IOC has lost credibility. Whatever happened to the “glory of sport” and the “honor of our teams” that the Olympic games are supposed to embody, as stated in the athlete’s oath recited at the opening ceremony of each quadrennial gathering.
The IOC imposes harsh sanctions on athletes who are found to have engaged in doping or have used banned performance-enhancing drugs. While such punitive measures seem quite appropriate in the abstract, the IOC has now lost significant moral authority to impose any sanctions upon anyone. They engaged in secret, underhanded, behind-the-scenes dealing to placate China’s Communist leadership and they lied when they said the news media would have unrestricted access to Internet sites from within China. They outright lied. Plain and simple.
I think the modern Olympics have long outlived their usefulness. I no longer see any justification for the extravagant sums of money spent around the games, and I certainly don’t want to see them come to my home city of Chicago in 2016.
It’s time we abolish the IOC and the modern Olympic games. Let’s take the resources spent on them and use those resources to promote things like these:
- better physical education for children and young adults in schools;
- expanded and improved sports programs for people with various kinds of disabilities;
- more health and fitness initiatives in the workplace, in all sectors of the economy; and
- sports and fitness programs for senior citizens.
Enough of showering elite athletes–a tiny fraction of one percent of all athletes worldwide–with such a disproportionate share of economic resources allocated to sport. Enough of the political gamesmanship that seems to creep into every Olympic games at some level. Enough of the professional athletes replacing amateur athletes at the games. Enough of the IOC and it’s sneaky, cowardly dealings.
Get rid of it all and use the resources for the immediate benefit of more people. Sport is for everyone, not just the few who are extraordinarily athletically gifted.
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