Facebook's WhatsApp Partly Blocked in China

Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service has been partially blocked in China, following a censorship crackdown by the government. Multiple WhatsApp users in China reported experiencing intermittent  outages from Monday night Beijing time. By Tuesday morning, users had  taken to social networks such as Twitter to report that photos as well  as audio clips -- a favored format in the country -- were not being  delivered. WhatsApp is not responsible for the blockage, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment. Chinese authorities have been ramping up censorship of social media  and messaging platforms as the government prepares for the 19th  Communist Party Congress -- a politically sensitive event that is likely  to consolidate President Xi Jinping's authority. Some users have begun  relying on virtual private networks, a technology that allows users to  route their data overseas, to get around the block -- although China's  government has begun cracking down on these tools lately. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo's recent death drew criticism  from around the globe and silence at home because search terms and  public discussion relating to the pro-democracy activist were heavily  censored. Research from the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab found  that even photos relating to Liu were being deleted from messages sent  via the hugely popular WeChat messaging platform, run by China's Tencent Holdings Ltd.