In the midst of government calls to tighten media controls ahead of a major Communist Party congress, China has blocked access to the popular Internet search engine Google, used by 45 million Chinese citizens. The Chinese government promotes the Internet for economic use and to spread the communist government’s views, but it has worked hard to muzzle the Internet as a forum for free information and discussion. While there was no immediate explanation for the blocking, China routinely tightens controls on news and information around politically sensitive dates. More