Google Gmail Service Facing IP Level Blockade in China: Report

Google's popular messenger service Gmail is reportedly facing some blockage in China.

Noted internet analysis firm, Dyn Research has confirmed (via Twitter) that the China has blocked Gmail at IP (Internet Protocol) level when served from Hong Kong.

Earl Zmijewski, Dyn's vice-president of data analytics, said in an email reply to Mashable that China has specifically targeted Hong Kong as it houses the main IP router.

To corroborate the claims, he tested the Gmail service at six different locations in Singapore and found each of them blocked.

"Gmail is horrible in China anyway. They make it perform terribly by blocking it for 5-10 minutes at a time randomly throughout the day. This gives the illusion that Gmail sucks. They want people using domestic providers so they have no warrant access to your email anytime they want," said one of the Reddit members, going by the moniker, 18andover.

The Communist-ruled China has long been known to hamper US-based services, to name a few Facebook and Twitter, so that users go for domestic social networks like Wiebo and other. It is also been notorious for censoring certain NGOs and human rights website, accusing them of anti-China activities.

Earlier this year, China blocked some Google services just days ahead of the 25^th anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 on 4 June, so that their won't be any chatter on the tragedy, which may bring horrific memories of the military guns pounding un-armed civilians mostly young students.

As of now, there is no word on exact reasons why China is particularly targeting Gmail service. We will update more on this as and when we get the new details.