Google+ Service Not Banned in China: Early Reports False

Reports from Chinese Internet users and publications have revealed that Google's new social networking Google+ service is currently available in China, indicating that the earlier reports that China had blocked the service were either premature or outright false.

An initial report from The Wall Street Journal indicated that the Chinese Government had blocked the Google+ service within one day of its launch on Tuesday.

Since then numerous publications have printed stories speculating that the Google+ service was blocked by the Chinese Government. The alleged blocking of Google+ was speculated as being a part of the country's ongoing internet censorship policy, which sees it block all Web sites that contain "destabilizing" material -- including pornography and certain news sites.

Currently other social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, have all fallen victim to China's internet censorship policy.

The reports first came when a number of Internet users in China reported an inability to log on to the Google+ service. Access-checking services, such as Just Ping, went on to confirm that the plus.google.com URL was inaccessible in China.

Since then, numerous Web sites and blogs have indicated that the service is now available in China. The Shanghaiist website posted an article earlier this week indicating that the troubles logging onto Google+ stemmed from a technical flaw.

"The irregularity of speed probably has something to do with the fact that Google+ automatically routes you through an HTTPS secure connection, which has been known to cause problems," the Shanghaiist's story read.

The Chinese Government is yet to release any official statement on the alleged censoring of Google's new Google+ service.

The recent reports are nothing new, Google and China have at best what can be described as a rocky relationship.

Google removed its servers and headquarters from China's mainland after it traced a cyberattack against it to the country's Shandong province back in 2009.

Since then it has traced two other attacks on its services to China. Most recently Google traced an attempted hack on its Gmail service to the Shandong province.

Google+ is the latest attempt -- the first two being its failed Buzz and Wave services -- by Google to break Facebook's dominance in the social networking site market.

Launched on Tuesday, Google+ is currently only available to a select few. Though Google attempted to follow the invite model used on its Gmail service, that allowed existing members to invite friends, due to inflated numbers trying to sign up, the company has since closed access to the general public.

Google is yet to reveal when Google+ will be available to the general public.