Gmail Is Back Up and Running in China -- For NowExperts noted that comparable outages would likely continue in the future.
ByGeoff Weiss•
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Following a four-day outage, Gmail is back up and running in China -- for now.
Gmail收件箱——通过POP和IMAP服务器访问-- began refilling today,reportstheFinancial Times, though many users were still receiving messages in delay.
If the decision to block Gmail came from the upper echelons of the Chinese government, experts told theTimesthat comparable outages would likely continue in the future. Yesterday, however, a government spokespersondenied any involvement.
Related:China Reportedly Blocks Gmail in Move That Could Hurt Foreign Businesses
The episode has shed new light on China's Great Firewall, an uber-sophisticated censorship mechanism that blocks foreign platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google's search function throughout the Communist nation.
It has also posed new obstacles for businesses operating in China. Citizens on the upper end of the socioeconomic spectrum were most up in arms over the blockage, according to theTimes, as Gmail is regularly used by those who travel abroad for work, or who work for international companies.
One user on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, even complained that he had missed the deadline to apply to The Wharton School because the correspondence had taken place via his inaccessible Gmail account.
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