The Conversation published Yanshuang Zhang and my article on the apparent, but overstated, censorship of the Mandarin characters for “truth” on Weibo.
As with the last article, Yanshuang is interested in exploring how Sina Weibo, the hugely popular Chinese microblogging platform, is both one of the most free spaces for discussion in China while also being frequently censored.
On July 12,Tom Philips, Shanghai correspondent for The Telegraph, cited one Hong Kong Weibo user’s claims that the “truth” was first found to be missing from search results in late June. This article circulated quickly online, especially in Western media. By July 16, the search results for “truth” were again displayed as normal. No-one can explain if this was a temporary censorship aimed at some unknown negative news, or just a technical problem. Yanshuang explains that this apparent censorship is much more complicated.
Yanshuang Zhang is writing about Sina Weibo for her PhD here with John Harrison, Dan Angus, and I at the UQ School of Journalism and Communication.
Read the full article @
Zhang, Y. & Rintel, S. (2012, July 20). Chinese internet censorship? Seeking the ‘truth’ on Weibo. The Conversation (Online).
Related articles @
Zhang, Y. & Rintel, S. (2012, June 29). No-no on Weibo: China challenges the New York Times. The Conversation (Online).
