Baidu.com launches online Chinese Wikipedia service

Internet Business News, May 12, 2006

INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Baidupedia, an online encyclopedia has been launched by Baidu.com, a Chinese web search company, modelled on the US-based Wikipedia which was blocked in China last year.

The 'Chinese Wikipedia' provides a user-generated encyclopedia which is self-censored in order to avoid problems with the Chinese government. The country has strict laws on Internet use and content and does not permit references to certain dissidents and the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Baidu said it was not aware the Wikipedia reference website had been banned in China but said the reaction to its new Chinese service, introduced in April, had been very positive. It confirmed users have been barred from using the site to attack government institutions, make malicious evaluations of the country's national system, or promote a negative or dispirited view of life.

While thousands of overseas websites have been blocked by Beijing, the introduction of Baidupedia demonstrates the opportunities for local companies to provide online services for the millions of Internet users in China.

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