China blocks OneDrive and Flickr

China has blocked access to Flickr, Microsoft OneDrive and some messaging services. The large-scale demonstrations in Hong Kong may be the reason for Beijing to block the foreign services.

On Tuesday, nearly half a million people took to the streets in Hong Kong demanding more democracy. Since then, a number of services have been made inaccessible to residents of China because they have been added to the blacklist of the ‘Great Chinese Firewall’, various internet companies have reported. This includes OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service. The popular photo service Flickr can no longer be reached from China, as well as the chat services Line and KakaoTalk, PCWorld writes.

The organization Greatfire.org reports that the reason for the blockage is believed to be the ability to share photos via the said services. For example, those in power would like to prevent the Chinese from requesting photo material and other content from Hong Kong, which is more open with regard to the mother country.

China has a strict internet censorship policy. For example, the Communist Party-led country blocked numerous foreign media after revelations about Chinese rulers. Many foreign sites were also blocked during the commemoration of the bloody events of Tiananmen Square last month.