[View the story "China Censorship" on Storify ]China Censorship Storified by The Stream · Wed, Feb 15 2012 13:21:41
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Wang Chen, Minister of the State Council InformationOffice, said there are legitimate reasons for controlling information, such asstopping the spread of rumors, blocking pornography, and stopping illegalcommercial activity.
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Many have chimed in on Weibo and Twitter opposing the real-name registration requirement. This post reads: "I oppose the real-nameregistration requirement for a Weibo account. It is a step back for democracy. Before it iscarried out, I call for the disclosure of government officials’ properties. If they can be corrupted secretively, why couldn’twe make criticism anonymously?"
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"Instead of silencing thedissidents, Weibo’s real-name registration aims to block an individual's Weiboaccount permanently so you will never get another opportunity to make yourvoice heard. Those anonymous corruption reports and outcries will be gone afterthe government turns Weibo into a “harmonious society." ("Harmonious society" is a phrase commonly used by Hu Jintao to defend his censorship policies.)
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Ai Weiwei tweeted: "China’s censorship has taught the young generation to ask WHY all the time. Why things that everyonewould appreciate, just like the water and the air, cannot be discussed in this country."
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"I am thinking that someone would probably receivethis kind of express delivery serviceafter Weibo’s real-name registration is carried out…… Police: 'Open the door,package delivery!!'"
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"Weibo's real-name registration will be a test of the courage that Chinese netizens should have when they decide to make their voices heard. It places more responsibility for speech on Weibo users."
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This infographic shows the overall state of censorship in China.
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Reporters Without Borders has called China a country with pervasive internet censorship and one of the worst countries for press freedom.
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Twenty-seven journalists were also imprisoned in China in 2011.
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This screen shot capture illustrates China's censorship policy. The capture shows the phrase "Tiananmen event" entered into China's popular search engine Baidu. The black lettering directly underneath the search box states, "According to local laws, regulations and policies,part of the searching result is not shown" and leaves out any results from the Tiananmen Square uprising and massacre in 1989.
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This map shows the areas in China where netizens are using Twitter by circumventing censors. These areas also happen to be China's wealthier and more urban regions.
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Chen Guangcheng is a human rights activist who was arrestedand sentenced to four years in prison for “damaging property and organising amob to disturb traffic.” Many believe the real reason Chen was imprisoned wasbecause he exposed the illegal measures Chinese authorities took to enforce theone-child policy, such as forced abortions and sterilisations. Chen, who isblind, is known for his trademark sunglasses, and many people have wornsunglasses and circulated photos of him with sunglasses as a way of showingsupport and calling for his freedom. Chen was released from prison in 2010 butremains under detention in his home.
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Liu Xiaobo is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning writer and humanrights activist who currently remains a political prisoner in China. He was sentencedto 11 years in prison after penning the Charter 08, a manifesto calling forpolitical reform and democracy in China. China immediately censored news of Liu’sNobel Peace Prize award, blocked words such as "Norway" and "Nobel," and cracked down on those who celebrated his award.
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Ge Xun (pictured on the left with his wife),a Chinese American citizen, was allegedly abducted, interrogated, and beaten byChinese security officials during his trip to Beijing in February. Ge says theofficials demanded his Twitter password and questioned his connection to an organisationthat promotes dialogue between Tibetans and Chinese.
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Wen Yunchao is a prominent blogger who frequently uses satire to poke fun at and raise awareness about the government's censorship policies. In an interview with The Stream, he describes how the Chinese government has used intimidation to try to silence him.
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On the anniversary of former Chinese chairman Mao Zedong's death in 2009, Wen Yunchao organized a "de-Maoification" campaign online. Since "mao" means "hair" in Mandarin, Wen called netizens to shave their hair and post pictures of it online as a means to ridicule the former leader. This picture shows Wen's own "de-Maoification" effort on his stomach outlining the "t" that represents the Twitter logo.
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The Chinese government is known to hire or encourageInternet commentators to speak favorably about the government on social mediasites to positively influence public opinion about the government. These commentators are unofficially called the 50 Cent Party because they are paid 50 Chinese cents for each pro-government post. This screenshot shows identical tweets from 50 Cent Party members who are criticising Wen Yunchao. The tweets say, "I don't think Wen Yunchao is a man. He is at best a dog."
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Ai Weiwei is a well-known artist and political activist who was arrested on April 3,2011 and held for over 2 months for tax fraud. Many believe the real reason for his arrest was his exposure of government corruption and calling for democratic reform. To raise awareness of his detention, animator and political activist Pi San created a satirical cartoon called "Crack Sunflower Seeds" which has circulated online exposing the government's forceful efforts to silence Ai Weiwei. The sunflower seeds refers to Ai's last big exhibit which featured thousands of porcelain sunflower seeds.
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Another satirical animation by Pi San, entitled “Little Rabbit, Be Good,” has been passed aroundTwitter and Weibo (now removed on Weibo) and carries a powerful hidden message, provoking Chinese citizensto subvert state power through a mass uprising. Despite the video’s disclaimerthat it is simply “an adult fairy tale” that has no connection to real life, theallusions to real-life events, such as the milk contamination incident, illegaldemolitions, protester beatings, self-immolations, are clear to Chinese citizens. A full translation and analysis of the video can be found here .
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This video shows an attempt by Chinese citizens to organize a mass protest against the government in early 2011 inspired by the Arab uprisings. The protests, referred to as the Jasmine Revolution, never took off, as Chinese security officials quashed street protests, detained activists and dissidents, and increased online censorship.
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This video shows how China's censors disconnect users temporarily after they try to access banned sites such as CNN and Wikipedia.
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This anti-censorship cartoon reads "Freedom of speech! Against censorship!"
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