BEIJING , China ( CNN ) -- China has blocked the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube but did not offer a reason for the ban . YouTube was blocked in China as of Wednesday . Google , which owns YouTube , said it began noticing a decline in traffic from China about noon Monday . By early Wednesday , site users insider China continued to encounter an error message : `` Network Timeout . The server at youtube.com is taking too long to respond . '' `` We do not know the reason for the blockage and we are working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users , '' said Scott Rubin , a spokesman for Google , which owns YouTube . It 's not the first time users in China have been unable to access the site . In March 2008 , China blocked YouTube during riots in Tibet . Watch more about the decision » . At the time , protesters burned vehicles and shops , some advocating independence from China , and others demonstrating against the growing influence of the Han Chinese in the area . The subsequent crackdown left 18 civilians and one police officer dead , according to the Chinese government . Tibet 's self-proclaimed government-in-exile put the death toll from the protests at 140 . Many in the country speculated the latest ban may be an attempt to filter access to footage that a Tibetan exile group released . The videos show Tibetans being kicked and beaten , allegedly by Chinese police officers after the riots . `` Though there is much footage of the protests taking place throughout Tibet last year that were splashed across the world , the following is rare footage of police beating of protesters , the suffering and death of a captive , and paramilitary presence in Lhasa ( the Tibetan capital ) , which managed to make its way to the outside world , '' the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala , India , said of the videos . Xinhua , China 's state news agency , accused the supporters of Tibet 's spiritual leader , the Dalai Lama , of doctoring the video to `` deceive the international community . '' China , with 298 million Internet users , has routinely blocked access to Web sites it considers politically unacceptable , including the Voice of America and The New York Times . The Chinese government has also censored television broadcasts , including those by the BBC and CNN , during coverage of issues such as its policy in Tibet and Taiwan . The Chinese government did not directly address whether it has blocked YouTube . `` China is not afraid of the Internet , '' said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Tuesday . `` We manage the Internet according to law ... to prevent the spread of harmful information . '' YouTube , which allows users to upload and share videos , has been banned periodically in other countries as well . Bangladesh , Pakistan , Thailand and Turkey temporarily shut off access to the site after users uploaded content the countries ' governments considered politically embarrassing . CNN 's Emily Chang contributed to this report .
By early Wednesday , media inside China had : ` ` ' blocked '' China blocked YouTube during deadly riots in Tibet in August 2008 . Chinese government and China 's government - in - exile differ on death toll .