BDA China, a Beijing-based consulting and research firm has announced that there are 220 million Web surfers in China, a number which slightly surpasses the 217 million in the United States and makes the country the largest Internet-connected population in the world.

By the end of the year it is expected that China’s surfers will number as high as 280 million, a full 30% more than the same time in 2007. The majority of Web browsing purportedly takes place inside Internet cafes; locations which may soon begin being require to register every customer so they can keep track on what each person accesses.

Ken Fisher of Ars Technica points out that China may have the most surfers, but they aren’t seeing as much of the freedom the Internet offers as other countries are. We posted only yesterday that China bans sites such as YouTube for posting content that does not agree with the Communist Party line. President Hu Jintao last year called for there to be efforts made to “purify” the Internet; a plan which seems to be coming well into fruition now. The AFP reports that the Chinese government announced in January that only state-controlled sites will be able to post audio and visual content.

While the number of people accessing the Internet may be increasing, their access to truly free information may be dwindling behind what has been nicknamed “The Great Firewall”. It will be interesting to see how the Chinese handle the influx of Internet-savvy world citizens coming to their country this summer for the Olympics. Will they continue to block all access? Will there be an “island” or confined circle of unrestrained access around the Olympic sites for foreign visitors to utilize? Or will they have to lift the entire wall, even temporarily?

mashable.com

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china is the first and india is second the most of the intrenet users visit pron sites only

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