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Berlin Twitter Wall website blocked just days after its launch

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders deplores the fact that Chinese authorities have blocked the Berlin Twitter Wall website ( http://www.berlintwitterwall.com ) just days after its launch on 20 October 2009 and urges the government to allow its citizens to access this special Twitter site, which is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The site allows people to express their comments about the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and their related hopes and wishes. The initiative has had a great response, including in China, where nearly 2,000 Internet users had left a message on the virtual wall - most of them demanding an end to censorship in China - before access was blocked.

"Chinese Internet users must not be prevented from accessing the Berlin Twitter Wall," said Reporters Without Borders, which supports this interactive campaign. "Initiatives like these are important platforms for the promotion of freedom of speech as well as for critical voices and protest."

The press freedom organisation added: "Just a few weeks ago, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Chinese representatives argued in favour of the promotion of cultural exchange. Yet many foreign news outlets and social-networking sites remain inaccessible to Chinese users."

The Berlin Twitter Wall website was launched by Kulturprojekte Berlin as part of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. By using the hashtag #fotw (fall of the wall) Twitter account, users can post comments that appear automatically on the berlintwitterwall.com site.