The image-curation website Pinterest is the latest social media service which is now blocked in China. In a report, the social media service was unavailable in mainland China since Thursday, March 16.
It has been known that the ruling Communist party restricts access to many foreign websites including Google, Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.
Even though Pinterest is not known for having political content, it was reported that some users from China made their posts public about human rights issues and Pinterest boards to jail dissident Liu Xiaobo and topics about Senkakus which might be the reason why it was addressed and listed on blocked websites.
Some netizens were not happy about the move saying they use it to discuss food, fashion and travel.
A student even wrote in Weibo expressing her dismay. She said that Pinterest is helpful for her homework as she is studying about fashion.
China's censorship has effectively "become a tool of industrial policy to discriminate against foreign competitors," wrote Cho-Wen Chu, a professor at Taiwan's Chinese Culture University, in a paper published in January, as cited by KMBC News.
"China's 'national security' concerns may be only a convenient excuse to favor domestic dotcoms by impeding fair competition," according to Chu.
China has more than 731 million internet users and 95 percent of them uses the web on their mobile devices.
