A year ago, human rights advocates scorned China's efforts to censor the internet, noting that their scrubbing both slowed down their internet access to unacceptable levels and wasn't particularly effective. Well, it is now, according to an AP report. Using a multi-layer and ever-changing approach involving automated filtering, teams of thousands of censors and the more insidious influence of coercive threats, China is doing a surprisingly effective job of tamping down conversations about sensitive issues, such as targeted religious groups, democracy and the de facto independence of Taiwan. It helps that American internet companies like Google pre-censor their news results - in the name of usability.

This story will appear in Google News, and likely pop up on the list of stories relevant to "China" and "censorship."

But it will likely be pre-scrubbed from the version shown to Chinese citizens in the localized version, as have the following stories…