China Cracks Down On Uprising Chatter

BY LORETTA CHAO

BEIJING—The Chinese government maintained a tight grip on news and discussion of the Egyptian president's dramatic downfall—an event that could send a subversive message to its own population—but some Internet users managed to evade censors to celebrate.
"A victory for democracy!" wrote one anonymous Internet user from Henan in an online forum. "The trend of democracy is unstoppable! There is no exception for China!"
Beijing's sensitivity to coverage of the Egyptian uprising has spurred new questions about the prospects of U.S. social-networking services entering the country.
Protesters in Egypt had mobilized support using popular local websites and Facebook, a website ...