Recently, China blocks Instagram, after blocking Facebook, Twitter, and Google services. The direct reason for blocking Instagram is the Hong Kong demonstration.

On September 28, Hong Kong residents occupied the city’s central business district as a peaceful protest toward the Chinese central government. However, Hong Kong police force reacted to the incident, which was quite unusual in Hong Kong. Hong Kong residents broke out conflicts with the police force; and the force threw tear bombs to people.

Chinese government does not want mainland residents to know much about the protest and the police force’s reaction, so the government decided to block Instagram, which was widely used in both Hong Kong and China.

Doing business in China, especially media, is tough. Although China is the world’s largest market, China has one of the world’s strictest censorships. Freedom of the press is control government’s control. Instagram, as global socializing software, certainly contains restricted information, like the Hong Kong demonstration. In order to survive in China, companies, such as Phoenix Satellite Television (Hong Kong), has stopped reporting news that the Chinese government does not like in Mainland China. However, other companies, such as Google, insist in the freedom of the press; as a result, they abandon the great Chinese market.

In order to do business in China, companies have to follow the government’s wishes. Otherwise, the government is going to oppose them.

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