Foursquare blocked in China

The Telegraph reports that Chinese authorities appear to have blocked access to the Foursquare service in mainland China. The reasons for the censorship of the geolocation service remain unclear, but some have speculated that it could be linked to the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The Chinese government is notorious for stifling discussion about the event, and already blocks internet searches that contain those key terms.

It appears that some Foursquare users have been “checking in” to Tiananmen Square in a show of solidarity with Chinese dissidents, and to commemorate those who died in the massacre. The current “mayor” of Tiananmen Square is a Foursquare user called Chommy.

According to Techblog86, a website that covers technology news in China, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people using the Foursquare service to ‘visit’ Tiananmen Square. The blog has a screenshot of a user’s Foursquare app on the iPhone, which shows hundreds of people checking in at the site of the massacre.

It remains unclear whether the blocking of Foursquare in China is a permanent or temporary move by the authorities. It already uses its “Great Firewall” to filter content that it deems unsuitable for Chinese citizens, such as websites about Tibet, the religious group Falun Gong or the Tiananmen Square massacre, in which hundreds of student protestors were crushed by government tanks. Access to Google and Facebook is also blocked in China.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/social-media/7802992/Foursquare-blocked-in-China.html

Bangladesh unblocks Facebook

Bangladesh has unblocked Facebook after officials said the US-based website had agreed to remove caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and “obnoxious” images of the country’s leaders.

Dhaka blocked the site a week ago, angered by the content.

Last month Pakistan briefly blocked all access to Facebook in the run-up to “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” – a contest planned by some users. Most Muslims consider representations of Muhammad to be blasphemous.

Bangladeshi officials, apparently in response to the same issue, said Facebook had “hurt the religious sentiments of the country’s majority Muslim population” by carrying “offensive images” of Muhammad.

At the time, Dhaka also raised objections to images of political leaders including current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/10247858.stm

Skinbook: the social network for nudists

The Times to Karl Maddocks, who two years ago created Skinbook, the world’s largest nudist social network.

Thousands of people have flocked to the site that has many of the same features and functions as Facebook — except everyone on it is naked.

Skinbook sees itself as a safe haven for those intrigued about stripping off in public, but without having to meet the strict regulations of many nudist clubs. It does have some rules though. Blank profiles are not accepted, or overtly sexual chatter. The site claims to have had 150,000 applicants but only 10 % make the grade.

“You’ve got to be there for the right reasons,” said Mr Maddocks. “With the nature of the site, we’ve got to do our best to protect people’s privacy,” said Mr Maddocks. The site has quickly gained popularity and is beginning to approach the same size as the country’s largest nudist organisation, British Naturism, thought to have about 13,000 members.

Skinbook says it has a younger audience, with the average age of members between 35 and 40, compared with the country’s more established nudist organisations where ages are about 55 to 60. Skinbook also claims to have more females and couples in its membership than most similar groups.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7144381.ece