China, which is known for its government's views on internet censorship, has blocked access to Gmail, at the IP level, for many of the country's 1.3 billion residents.
Many of Google's services, including Gmail, have been blocked at a national level in mainland China. In the past, censorship had focused primarily on YouTube and Google's search engine, especially during the periods leading up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. However, this is the first time that Google's email service has been completely blocked in China.
In 2009 and 2012, the Chinese government had again blocked Google's services in the country. In 2010, Google even announced that it would withdraw its services from the country, as a result of the attacks it had suffered and had attributed to the country's government.
The blocking has been confirmed by various sources, including many Chinese citizens on social media, and by the company Dyn Research, whose representative said in a statement to Mashable that many of the IP addresses that were used for Gmail services were indeed blocked.
Earlier in the year, China also blocked access to Instagram, in an effort to stop the spread of protests for democracy in the country. The authorities have also repeatedly conducted investigations in Microsoft's offices, under the pretext that they are researching the country's monopolistic policy.
Access to the service remains blocked throughout the country, but since the service is blocked at the IP level, Chinese citizens who are afraid of missing important email messages can still access their Gmail account via a proxy or VPN.
