Chinese internet users on Obama’s Google+ page

There appears to be a fault in the Great Firewall. Chinese internet users have managed to access the Google+ social network and have left comments on American president Barack Obama’s page.

Last week, China’s Great Firewall showed some unusual signs of weakness which allowed Chinese internet users to get past normal blocking rules to access the Google+ social network.

According to Reuters, a Google spokesperson stated that the company had done nothing in particular to allow such access. The theory that Google was running an advertising campaign has therefore been ruled out. One theory is that China’s firewall may have not been configured for certain mobile browsers.

Like other Google products including Blogger and YouTube (other non-Google products are affected like Facebook and Twitter) Google+ has been blocked in China, leaving room for locally developed and government censored products like Sina to take their place.

To get around Chinese authorities control, the use of a VPN connection (virtual private network) is generally required, although this is something that it unknown to most Chinese internet users.

Users who last week managed to gain access to Google’s social network have apparently used the breach to address the President of the USA by posting comments on his Google+ page. Hundreds of comments in simplified Mandarin talking about human rights, for example. The number of postings seen since this initial flurry has considerably reduced.

Some American users were surprised to see such a large number of posts, with some even claiming the action could have been nicknamed "Occupy Obama". Some posters requested a Green Card (with an apparent tone of humour), while others asked for action to be taken to free political prisoners, and even claims that the Chinese wanted to taste American freedom.