Observers speculated that the system could be upgraded to further tighten the regime’s control over foreign sites.u00a0Users in Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere in China reported that they were unable to access any foreign sites at all.

China already heavily restricts access to many foreign sites.u00a0China blocks Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and many other websites citing a need to maintain social stability.

“Latest news: most foreign websites can’t be accessed,” said a company, Data Centre for China Internet.u00a0Others speculated that the outage could be caused by damage to undersea cabling caused by the earthquakes on Wednesday.

The change in the service came as China faced renewed attack from Western hacktivists for its restrictive internet policies and human rights violations.