The Chinese government has closed Beijing University’s “Yi ta hu tu” Bulletin Board System, one of the most democratic BBSs in China.

According to a student from Beijing University who visits the site every day, YTHT BBS, www.ytht.net, it is seen as the only place in China where people can speak the truth. Its Web site is particularly popular. It is seen a place to learn about the lives of thousands of Chinese and read stories about government corruption, without running through the filter of the state-run media.

The student said that on Sept. 13, he could no longer access YTHT and keyword searches failed. On top of this, discussions about YTHT were banned by other university BBSs, such as the one from Qinghua University, www.smth.org.

According to Weijibaike network, on Sept. 13, Beijing Telecommunications Management Bureau announced the closing of YTHT. Following that, all major BBSs in China issued the notices that forbade discussion of YTHT. Some even deleted all posts that referred to YTHT. In addition, China’s search engine company Baidu removed YTHT and related key words from Internet search.

The name “Yi ta hu tu”—literal meaning “All of a Mess”—is a pun of three major icons on the campus of Beijing University: Yi means one, ta hu tu refer to Boya tower, Weiming Lake, and the University Library, respectively. The BBS is a grassroots Web site initially set up by a graduate student in physics on September 1999. It grew from an internal university site to become the largest BBS in China’s educational network.

YTHT had more than 700 discussion sections and more than 30,000 registered users. The maximum traffic at any given time was 21,390 users. Users are mostly students, researchers and professors at universities and research institutions. YTHT has a reputation for being profoundly influential among university students.

YTHT is best known for its loose management and democratic freedom. This is why it attracts so many users, but also attracted great government scrutiny.

On Aug. 19, YTHT was ordered to “reorganize” itself, and some sections, including Triangle Platform, Citizen Life and Human Rights Study were temporarily closed. The Triangle Platform later reopened for a short time. Now the entire BBS is closed, a blow for free speech in China.