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There is no permanent, authoritative list of every website and app blocked in mainland China. Filtering changes over time and can apply to a domain, subdomain, URL path, protocol, network, province, or particular moment. A homepage may work while an article, login endpoint, media host, or API does not.
The most useful current reference is GreatFire’s measurement database. Its latest supplied snapshot analyzed 708,929 URLs and marked 28% blocked, but that figure is a measurement of tested URLs—not a census of every website on the internet. Use the lists below as a practical guide, then check the exact address you need before relying on it.
Websites currently listed as blocked
GreatFire’s current top-site test covers the most-visited websites in the Tranco ranking. In its latest results, 213 of 1,000 homepages were blocked, 228 were intermittent, 525 were not blocked, and 21 had insufficient data. The following services are listed as blocked in that test:
| Service | Domains listed as blocked |
|---|---|
google.com |
|
facebook.com |
|
| YouTube | youtube.com, youtu.be |
instagram.com |
|
| Twitter/X | twitter.com, x.com |
| Wikipedia | wikipedia.org |
whatsapp.com, whatsapp.net, wa.me |
|
| TikTok | tiktok.com, tiktokv.com |
reddit.com |
|
| Telegram | telegram.org, telegram.me, t.me |
| Discord | discord.com, discord.gg |
pinterest.com |
|
| Vimeo | vimeo.com |
| Dropbox | dropbox.com |
| Internet Archive | archive.org |
| News and media | nytimes.com, bbc.com, bbc.co.uk, reuters.com, theguardian.com, washingtonpost.com, bloomberg.com |
| Publishing and blogging | medium.com, blogspot.com, tumblr.com |
| Streaming and audio | twitch.tv, soundcloud.com, dailymotion.com |
| Shopping and marketplaces | etsy.com |
| Finance and charts | tradingview.com |
| Social and other platforms | flickr.com, bsky.app, vk.com, linktr.ee, issuu.com, roku.com |
| Hosting and website infrastructure | workers.dev, wixsite.com |
These are GreatFire’s homepage or domain-level classifications, not a guarantee that every related hostname behaves identically. For example, a service can use separate domains for its website, authentication, downloads, messaging, video, and application programming interfaces.
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Websites with intermittent results
GreatFire distinguishes intermittent from blocked. Intermittent means conclusive tests disagree across probes or dates. It should not be described as a permanent ban.
The current intermittent examples include:
cloudflare.commicrosoft.comandlive.comamazon.com,amazon.co.uk, andamazon.degithub.comandgitlab.comspotify.comyahoo.comwordpress.comopera.comandmozilla.orgwebex.comcnn.comebay.comibm.comnature.comsteampowered.comsalesforce.comnasa.govnvidia.comxboxlive.comwalmart.comaliyun.com,naver.com, anddoi.org
An intermittent result is important for work and travel planning. It means access may depend on the ISP, location, time, or particular endpoint. Do not treat it as equivalent to either “available everywhere” or “blocked everywhere.”
Websites currently listed as not blocked
“Not blocked” is also a limited measurement: GreatFire’s probes succeeded for the tested homepage. It does not promise that every page or embedded service will load.
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| Category | Domains listed as not blocked |
|---|---|
| Apple and Microsoft services | apple.com, office.com, azure.com, outlook.com, icloud.com, sharepoint.com |
| Search and entertainment | bing.com, netflix.com, imdb.com |
| Business and communication | linkedin.com, zoom.us, slack.com, paypal.com |
| Commerce and travel | booking.com, shopify.com, aliexpress.com, temu.com |
| Publishing and research | wordpress.org, sciencedirect.com, researchgate.net |
| Chinese platforms | baidu.com, qq.com, weibo.com, bilibili.com, alibaba.com |
| Other services | snapchat.com, epicgames.com, canva.com, who.int, amazontrust.com |
Apps blocked or unavailable in China
Website filtering and app availability are separate issues. A blocked website does not prove that its mobile app is unavailable in mainland China, and an app removed from a mainland app store does not prove that its website is blocked.
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GreatFire links its URL research with related app-store information from the AppleCensorship and GoogleCensorship projects. OONI Explorer also measures websites and apps, including services such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Signal. Check the China-specific measurement record for an app rather than assuming its status from the company’s website.
In practice, an app can fail in several different ways:
- It may not appear in the mainland Apple App Store or an Android store.
- It may be installed but fail to register, sign in, refresh content, or send messages.
- Its update server, push-notification service, CDN, or API may be inaccessible even if the main website opens.
- The app may work on a roaming SIM, corporate connection, or other route but not on a normal mainland network.
Freedom House reports that state control of telecommunications enables both website blocking and removal of smartphone applications from the domestic market. It also notes restrictions affecting apps focused on minority languages, religious material, and foreign-language learning. Those categories are broader than the major social-media examples above and can change independently of website status.
How to check whether a specific website is blocked
- Open GreatFire’s Great Firewall analyzer.
- Find the field labeled “Check any website, e.g. facebook.com”.
- Enter the exact URL or domain you want to test.
- Select “Check”.
- If the URL already has a result page, select “Test now” to request a fresh measurement.
Test the address that matters, not just the brand name. These may produce different results:
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http://example.com
https://example.com
https://www.example.com
https://example.com/article
https://login.example.comGreatFire does not require an account, software installation, or a connection from inside China. Its probes run in mainland China and compare their results with an outside control, normally in the United States.
How GreatFire decides that a URL is blocked
GreatFire’s blocked verdict applies to a specific tested URL when its China probes detect one or more signs such as:
- a connection reset;
- DNS poisoning;
- redirection to a mainland-China server; or
- failure to load while the outside control succeeds.
A timeout by itself is not proof of censorship. The control test may also fail because the site is down globally, rejects the measurement system, or uses bot protection. In that situation, the result may be not enough data rather than blocked.
GreatFire’s headline status uses conclusive tests from the previous 90 days. If a page says “as of 2019” or another older year, that is a historical fallback—not evidence that the same result is current.
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- 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 - TP-Link is a signatory of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Secure-by-Design pledge. Advanced security is integrated into the device’s design, development, and ongoing maintenance.
Important limitations when interpreting the list
- Results vary by place and network. Filtering can differ by province, ISP, network type, and time.
- Hong Kong and Macau are outside this scope. A successful connection there is not a mainland-China result.
- VPNs and roaming can change what you see. Your connection may not follow the same route as a mainland probe.
- Paths matter. A domain’s homepage may load while a particular article, image host, API, or login page fails.
- Unresolvable is different from blocked. A domain that no longer resolves anywhere may be expired, parked, or offline rather than censored.
- Static lists age quickly. Record the URL, result, date, and measurement window when documenting access.
For a live sample, open GreatFire’s Blocked lists. The page heading is “Blocked lists” and includes Most blocked sites (all time), Recently tested — blocked, Recently tested — accessible, an RSS feed, and a JSON Feed. The supplied snapshot says the displayed sample contains 1,500 recently tested URLs and was updated on August 7, 2026.
FAQ
Is Google blocked in mainland China?
GreatFire currently lists google.com as blocked in its top-site test. Individual Google-related hostnames and paths should still be checked separately.
Are all Western websites blocked in China?
No. GreatFire currently lists services including Apple, LinkedIn, Bing, Netflix, Outlook, Zoom, PayPal, Slack, Booking.com, and Canva as not blocked in its homepage test. Other endpoints may have different results.
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Is TikTok blocked in China?
GreatFire currently lists tiktok.com and tiktokv.com as blocked. TikTok’s mainland-China situation is also distinct from the availability of China’s separate short-video service, Douyin.
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Does a blocked website mean its app is banned?
No. Website filtering and app-store availability are separate measurements. Check the relevant AppleCensorship, GoogleCensorship, or OONI record for the app and region.
Can I check a website without being in China?
Yes. GreatFire’s analyzer is publicly accessible and uses probes inside mainland China, comparing them with an outside control. You do not need an account or an installation.
Why does a website open for me when it is listed as blocked?
You may be using a VPN, roaming connection, corporate network, or a different location. The test may also cover a different hostname or path. Blocking can vary by network, province, time, and URL.
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It means conclusive measurements disagree across probes or dates. It is not the same as a permanent block and should be reported as intermittent.
The Bottom Line
Use this article for the major services most commonly encountered, not as a permanent blacklist. For a reliable answer, test the exact scheme, hostname, and path in GreatFire’s analyzer, note the result date and coverage window, and check app-store or app-measurement data separately. Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau should not be treated as one access environment.
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