internet - "The government has blocked the site" and other nonsense

I have a small side-business in helping companies to find out whether their website is blocked by the Chinese censor or not. It is simply unbelievable how easy people think sites are being blocked, while there are mostly hundreds of other problems that can cause a site not to show up.
Just now a friend (real friends get a discount on my normal service fee) banged on my skype-window and said that some western media sites were unaccessible. She works in an office building just at the other side of People's Square, so I check the sites and get to them without any problem.
Then her IT-guy walks into the office and tells her that the sites are blocked by the Chinese government. Why would he lie, she sputters when I say it is not true. "Why would I lie," I counter the attack. First, I can see the sites, and second, all IT-guys blame the government when they have no clue.