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China Blocks Access to All Language Editions of Wikipedia

Observers speculate the blockade may have something to do with the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which occurred on June 4, 1989.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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China appears to be blocking all access to Wikipedia after previously only censoring the Chinese-language editions of the online encyclopedia.

The blocking started last month, according to an internet monitoring service operated by the Tor Project. Attempting to access any Wikipedia page from within the country, no matter the language, will now trigger a connection error.

China Wikipedia Blocking

A separate censorship monitoring group, Greatfire.org, says China has blocked access to Wikipedia since April 22. Local users on Chinese social media platforms say they've also been "walled" from the site.

It's unclear why the Chinese government has blocked the sites. But observers speculate it may be related to the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, which occurred on June 4, 1989. The country's government has generally banned all discussion of the event, which resulted in the Chinese authorities using military force to squash a pro-democracy movement led by students.

It's possible the blocking may only be temporary. In January, China mysteriously blocked and then ublocked Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Over the years, the country has selectively blocked certain pages on Wikipedia that have been critical of its Communist-led government. However, in 2015, China began blocking all access to the Mandarin-language pages of Wikipedia after the encyclopedia site moved to HTTPS encryption by default in order to protect users from unwarranted surveillance.

So far, the Wikimedia Foundation hasn't commented on the blocking. To access a censored website from within China, users can install a VPN service, which will allow them to connect to the internet over a server based outside the country. In response, China has tried to crack down on VPN use with the threat of fines against anyone caught using unauthorized VPN services.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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