China maintains a tight control over the internet in its borders and only the services that are allowed by the government can operate in the mainland. Services used by people across the globe such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google are not accessible in China but that might change for the Chinese province of Hainan where the company is reportedly going to ease the internet controls to promote tourism.
The South China Morning Post reports that authorities have devised a plan to allow visitors to certain areas of Hainan to access Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It’s part of their plan to transform Hainan into a free trade port by the end of this decade.
Even though the plan was first published and later pulled from the local government website, reports from state media claim that the plan will proceed, but it’s not known why it was removed from the website in the first place.
The island province of Hainan is located in the southern tip of China and is often dubbed as the Hawaii of China. The designated zones where tourists will be able to access these services will be in the province’s two major cities, Haikou and Sanya.
Tourists in Hainan’s designated zones will thus be able to use Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube without any issues. However, it hasn’t been mentioned if other blocked platforms such as Google, WhatsApp, and Instagram will be unblocked as well.
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