Many domain names are blocked in mainland China under the country's Internet censorship policy, which prevents users from accessing certain websites from within the country.[1]

A majority of apps and websites blocked are the result of the companies not willing to follow the Chinese government's internet regulations on data collection and privacy, user-safety, guidelines and the type of content being shared, posted or hosted.

This is a list of the most notable such blocked websites in the country (except Autonomous area). This page does not apply to Chinese territories that adhere to the policy of one country, two systems (Hong Kong and Macau).

Table of high-ranking websites blocked in mainland China

More information Website, Domain ...
WebsiteDomainURLCategoryPrimary languageDuration of blockageCurrent status
Googlegoogle.comwww.google.com
drive.google.com
chat.google.com
scholar.google.com
SearchMultilingual2010–present[2][3]Blocked[4][3]
YouTubeyoutube.comwww.youtube.comVideoMultilingual2007 - 2008, 2009–present[5][4][6]Blocked
Facebookfacebook.comwww.facebook.comSocialMultilingualJuly (or earlier) 2009–present[7][8]Blocked[9]
Yahooyahoo.comyahoo.comSearchMultilingual28 February 2021 – presentUnblocked (Service Not Available)[10]
Wikipediawikipedia.orgwikipedia.orgEncyclopediaMultilingual23 April 2019 – present[11][12][6]Partially blocked, sometimes can be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible
Marxists Internet Archivemarxists.orgmarxists.orgEncyclopediaMultilingualAbout 2005–no later than 2007[13]Unblocked
Redditreddit.comwww.reddit.comSocialMultilingual2018–present[14]Blocked
Fandomfandom.comcommunity.fandom.comWikiaMultilingual2022–presentPartially blocked, sometimes can be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible
Netflixnetflix.comwww.netflix.comEntertainmentMultilingual2012–presentUnblocked (Service Not Available)[15]
Zoomzoom.uszoom.usVideotelephonyEnglish9 September to November 2019[16]Unblocked
Blogspotblogspot.comblogspot.comBlogEnglishMay 2009–present[17][18][19]Blocked
Bingbing.combing.comSearchMultilingual23 to 24 January 2019[20]Unblocked (Service Not Available, redirects to Chinese version - cn.bing.com)[21]
InstagramInstagram.comwww.Instagram.comImage SharingMultilingualSeptember 2014–present[22]Blocked
WhatsApp whatsapp.com whatsapp.com Messaging Multilingual September 2017–present[23] Blocked
Twitchtwitch.tvtwitch.tvStreamingEnglish17 September 2018–presentBlocked[24]
Roblox roblox.com roblox.com Gaming Multilingual December 2021 – present Blocked

(Separate Chinese version exists)

Steam Store store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com Entertainment Multilingual 25 December 2021[25][26]–present Partially blocked, sometimes could be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible; separate Chinese version exists
Steam Community steamcommunity.com steamcommunity.com Social Multilingual 15 December 2017[27][28]–present Blocked
Spotify spotify.com spotify.com Music streaming Multilingual 7 October 2008–present Unblocked (Service Not Available)[29]
Messenger messenger.com messenger.com Messaging Multilingual August 2011–present[7][8] Partially blocked (available for tourists in Hainan)[4][needs update]
Xx.comx.comSocialEnglishJune 2009–present[17][30][8]Partially blocked (available for tourists in Hainan)[4][needs update]
LinkedIn linkedin.com linkedin.com Social Multilingual October 2021–present[1][11][12] Blocked (Separate Chinese version exists)
Skype skype.com skype.com Social Multilingual November 2017–unknown[31] Unblocked
Tumblrtumblr.comtumblr.comSocialEnglish25 May 2016–present[32]Blocked
Pinterestpinterest.compinterest.comImage sharingMultilingualMarch 2017–present[33]Blocked
SoundCloud SoundCloud.com SoundCloud.com Music streaming Multilingual September 2013–present[34] Blocked
Signal Private Messenger signal.org signal.org Instant messaging Multilingual March 16, 2021 – present[35] Blocked
Dropbox dropbox.com dropbox.com File sharing Multilingual May 2010 – February 2014; June 2014 – present[36] Blocked
Pornhubpornhub.comwww.pornhub.comPornographyEnglish2012, May to 2016, April, to presentBlocked[37]
XVideos xvideos.com xvideos.com Pornography videos English Unknown – present Blocked
Mediummedium.commedium.comNewsEnglish2016, 15 April to present[38]Blocked
Dailymotiondailymotion.comdailymotion.comSharingEnglish2007, 11 April to present[39]Blocked
BBCbbc.co.uk (or bbc.com)bbc.co.uk (or bbc.com)News and broadcastingEnglish2014, 15 October to present[40]Blocked
The New York Timesnytimes.comnytimes.comPublicationEnglish2012 to presentBlocked[41]
Vimeovimeo.comwww.vimeo.comSharingEnglish2009, October[42] to present[43]Blocked
The Guardiantheguardian.comtheguardian.comNewsEnglishJune 2019 to present[44]Blocked
SlideShareslideshare.netslideshare.netEnglishJune 2012 to presentBlocked[45]
Discorddiscord.comdiscord.comMessagingMultilingual2018, 13 July to present[46]Blocked
DeviantArtdeviantart.comwww.deviantart.comArt displayEnglish2008, 15 December to present[47]Blocked
The Washington Postwashingtonpost.comwashingtonpost.comNewsEnglishJune 2019 to present[44]Blocked
Nico Videonicovideo.jpnicovideo.jpSharingJapaneseUnknown to present[48]Blocked
Archive.org (Internet Archive)archive.orgwww.archive.orgWeb archivingEnglish2011, April (or earlier) to Present[49]Blocked[50][51]
Bloombergbloomberg.combloomberg.comPublicationEnglish2012, July to present[52]Blocked
Flickrflickr.comflickr.comSharingEnglish2007, 7 June to present[53][54]Blocked
Wretchwretch.ccwww.wretch.ccBlogChinese2007, August to 2012[55]Blocked (discontinued)
HuffPosthuffpost.comhuffpost.comNewsEnglishJune 2019 to present[44]Blocked
The Wall Street Journalwsj.comwsj.comNewsEnglishNo later than 22 September 2015 to present[56][57]Blocked
DuckDuckGoduckduckgo.comduckduckgo.comSearchEnglish2014, September to present[58]Blocked
Scratchscratch.mit.eduscratch.mit.eduProgramming, SharingMultilingual2020, 14 August to presentPartially Blocked (Not accessible)[59][citation needed][60]
Reutersreuters.comreuters.comNewsEnglish2015, 20 March, to present[61]Blocked
NBC Newsnbcnews.comwww.nbcnews.comNewsEnglishJune 2019 to present[44]Blocked
TIMEtime.comtime.comNewsEnglish2016. 9 April to present[62]Blocked
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)cbc.cawww.cbc.caNews and broadcastingEnglish2014 to present[63]Blocked
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)www.abc.net.auwww.abc.net.auNews and broadcastingEnglish2018, 22 August to present[64]Blocked
Bandcampbandcamp.comwww.bandcamp.comMusicEnglish2021, February to present[65]Blocked
Technoratitechnorati.comwww.technorati.comSearchEnglish2008, July to Present[66]Blocked
Archive of Our Own archiveofourown.org archiveofourown.org Fanfiction Multilingual 2020, March, to present[67]Blocked
Viberviber.comviber.comMessagingMultilingual2014, October to present[68]Blocked
South China Morning Postscmp.comscmp.comNewsEnglish2016 to present[69]Blocked
Plurkplurk.comwww.plurk.comSocialMultilingual2009, April to Present[70]Blocked
The Economisteconomist.comeconomist.comNewsEnglishApril 2016 – present[71][72]Blocked
ABCabc.eswww.abc.esNewsSpanish29 November 2021 – present[73]Blocked
Voice of Americavoanews.comwww.voanews.comNewsEnglishUnknown – present[74]Blocked
Radio Free Asiarfa.orgrfa.orgNews, broadcastingMultilingualUnknown – present[75][76]Blocked
NBCnbc.comnbc.comBroadcastingEnglishJune 2019 – present[44]Blocked
PBworkspbworks.compbworks.comSharingEnglishJanuary 2011 – present[77]Blocked
The Epoch Timestheepochtimes.comwww.theepochtimes.comNewsEnglish2003–present[78]Blocked
The Epoch Times (Chinese edition)epochtimes.comwww.epochtimes.comNewsChinese1999–present[78]Blocked
HBOhbo.comwww.hbo.comEntertainmentEnglishJune 2018 – present[79]Blocked
WIONwionews.comwww.wionews.comNewsEnglishJuly 2020 – present[80]Blocked[81]
Hong Kong Free Presshongkongfp.comhongkongfp.comNewsEnglishNovember 2015 – present[82]Blocked
Apple Dailyhk.appledaily.comhk.appledaily.comNewsTraditional Chinese (Cantonese)Unknown – 2021 (closed)Blocked,[83] closed in 2021
TikToktiktok.comwww.tiktok.comSocialMultilingualJune 2020 – presentBlocked[84]
ChatGPTopenai.comchatgpt.com

chat.openai.com
api.openai.com

Artificial IntelligenceMultilingual2023–presentBlocked[85]
Rockstar Games rockstargames.com www.rockstargames.com Gaming Multilingual Unknown–present Blocked
GitHubgithub.comwww.github.comWeb toolsMultilingualJune 2020 – presentPartially blocked, sometimes could be accessed normally, sometimes inaccessible
Hugging Facehuggingface.cohuggingface.coArtificial IntelligenceMultilingual2023–presentBlocked[86]
Flipkart flipkart.com www.flipkart.com Online Shopping Multilingual Unknown–present Blocked
Zomato zomato.com www.zomato.com Food Service English Unknown–present Blocked
Clubhouse clubhouse.com www.clubhouse.com Social English February 2021 – present Blocked[87]
Swiggy swiggy.com www.swiggy.com Food Service English Unknown–present Blocked
Truth Social truthsocial.com www.truthsocial.com Social Media English February 2022 – present Blocked[88]
National Weather Service weather.gov www.weather.gov Weather English Unknown-present Blocked
Kanzhongguo

(English)

visiontimes.com www.visiontimes.com Newspaper English Unknown-present Blocked[89]
Kanzhongguo

(Chinese)

secretchina.com www.secretchina.com

pdf.secretchina.com

Newspaper Chinese Unknown-present Blocked[90]
Telegram telegram.org telegram.org Messaging Multilingual July 2015 – present Blocked
Close

See also

References

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