China closes 90 websites as internet crackdown intensifies

China closes 90 websites as internet crackdown intensifies: Nervous Beijing ‘determined to quell online dissent’ as economic gloom deepens and sensitive anniversaries loom. Some have read that as a shot across their bows, intended to encourage them to take more care in censoring content in general over the year ahead. This year sees the 20th anniversary of the military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests, the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising in Tibet which led to the Dalai Lama fleeing to India, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.