Backtracking off previous backtracking, the International Olympic Committee says it never reached a deal with China to permit Internet filtering, and says all along it's insisted there must be unrestricted access to the web just as there was in previous host cities. They're blaming the mix up on a miscommunication; IOC president Jacques Rogge made his statement in English, which isn't his first language. So now that the IOC's position on censorship has been cleared up, where does the media's Internet access stand?

A check by The Associated Press on Saturday showed many sites the Chinese government dislikes — for example, the spiritual movement Falun Gong — were blocked. The sites being blocked seem to change daily, although certain key words always draw blank screens. Sites that host thousands of blogs are also routinely blocked.

Typing in "Tiananmen Square Massacre" yielded a site, but all the photographs on the site were blocked.

Kevan Gosper, head of the IOC's press commission, has acknowledged that full access may not be possible with the games being held in a "communist society."

"I guess there will be some debate as we move toward the games if there are sites that may or may not be open," Gosper said. "And the line between what could be considered as a national-interest issue might be a bit blurred. But we'll work on it and we will deal with any potential grievances." [AP]

Also:

In Beijing, we can get Drudge; we can get Common Dreams; we can get Raw Story and Truthout. But Huffington Post: censored completely. [HuffPo]