By Nick Butler

The IOC remain confident Twitter and Facebook will be available during Nanjing 2014 ©Nanjing 2014Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms currently banned in China will be freely accessible during the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has claimed. 


Earlier this year during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the IOC claimed they had received assurances from the Chinese Government that "every platform will be available" throughout the Games in Nanjing.

But early arrivals in the Chinese city for the Games, due to start on August 16, have reported they are unable to access sites like Facebook and Twitter.

IOC communications director Mark Adams has told insidethegames that he has been "reliably informed they will be available as from today", but that he will check to make sure on arrival. 

Engaging with the public via social media has become a central plank of the IOC's communications strategy. 

During Sochi 2014 the IOC's Facebook page grew by more than a million to nearly four million. 

In addition, the social media giant reported that 24 million people talked about these Olympics on Facebook during the first week of competition.

On Twitter, the Olympics had 6.5 million mentions during that same period.

Overall, 1.2 billion impressions were noted on the IOC Facebook and Twitter accounts in the 30 day period surrounding Sochi 2014. 

Nanjing 2014 has used social media as a key way to market the Games - even though it is largely banned across China and currently not available in the city itself ©FacebookNanjing 2014 has used social media as a key way to market the Games - even though it is largely banned across China and currently not available in the city itself ©Facebook














But in China, many "politically sensitive" websites, including Facebook and Twitter, have been banned in mainland China since 2009 as part of a wider censorship of information available on the internet, on the grounds they "violate national laws".

Yet there has long been some flexibility over this, with the ban having been lifted in a 17 square mile area of Shanghai last year, and Twitter and Facebook having both been periodically available during the Asian Youth Games in Nanjing last August.

In April this year during the SportAccord Convention in Belek, Turkish authorities lifted a ban on Twitter ahead of delegates arriving, although YouTube remained banned for the duration of the event.

Twitter and Facebook have become key ways for many organisations involved in the Olympics to spread their message ©USOCTwitter and Facebook have become key ways for many organisations involved in the Olympics to spread their message ©USOC

The biggest social media platform in China is the Government-approved Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging website which is a cross between Twitter and Facebook.

The IOC currently has 10 million fans on that site, having increased its likes by 850,000 during Sochi 2014. 

The total IOC fan base on social media platforms worldwide is nearly 35 million. 

Many of the 1,500 current Olympians, as well as 6,000 former athletes, regularly use the Olympic Athletes' Hub app to engage with one another as well as fans by sharing their experiences via photographs or comments.

In addition, IOC sponsors use significant digital and social media to promote their association with the Olympics and help promote the Games.