Since Thursday, the Great Fire Wall has been blocking all Flickr images, though most of the site remains accessible. There is speculation that the reason is that images related to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprisings had appeared on the site. (Though the timing would be right, I doubt that it has anything to do with the minor revolt in Zhengzhou, as there are very few Flickr users in the area).

What about this situation made me think of the recent LJ suspension debacle? According to a San Francisco Chronicle article, Jain Hua Li, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he hadn't heard of Flickr until told about it in a conversation with a Chronicle reporter, and then suggested that the blocking may be because Chinese authorities are trying to protect children from racy images. It's all about protecting the children, right? Remember what Mr. Berkowitz said in news: "We are trying hard to keep LJ a community where free speech and the protection of children and victims and others can coexist." Of course, Berkowitz's statement is a bit ridiculous given that "protecting children" (even if that, and not presenting a clean mainstream image to advertisers/investors, is the actual goal) in a forum of, by, and for adults necessarily involves restriction of speech. You can see why I'm suspicious of his statements about there being "no perfect solution."