Thẻ: Internet censorship

How online searches for ‘Ukraine’ and ‘Taiwan’ are censored in China: study

~ Trần Đình Hoành ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Thousands of combinations of keywords attract either no matches on internet platforms or redirect to approved content, Canadian research group saysThree-month project shows infringement of ‘rights to freely access political and religious content’

Sylvie Zhuang

Sylvie Zhuang in Beijing

Published: 7:58pm, 28 Apr, 2023, SCMP

A Canadian study has detailed censored search terms about the war in Ukraine on Chinese platforms. Photo: Shutterstock Images

A Canadian study has detailed censored search terms about the war in Ukraine on Chinese platforms. Photo: Shutterstock Images

“Ukraine” and “Taiwan” are among a wide range of newly discovered keyword combinations censored by Chinese search engines and social media platforms, according to a study by a group of Canadian researchers.

In a report released on Wednesday, researchers from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said they looked at eight platforms accessible in China and found “60,000 unique censorship rules used to partially or totally censor search results”.

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Censors silence popular influencer around Tiananmen Square Massacre anniversary

~ Phạm Thu Hương ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

foreignpolicy

June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre—in which People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces killed hundreds and perhaps thousands of protesters as well as crushing demonstrations across the country—is a fraught moment in China. In Hong Kong, the public once freely memorialized the massacre. This year, authorities again used the national security law passed in 2020 to block gatherings; six people were arrested.

In mainland China, the anniversary claimed an unexpected victim: e-commerce influencer Li Jiaqi, widely known as the “Lipstick Brother” or “Lipstick King.” During a livestream on June 3, Li was presented with a cake that resembled a tank. Censors promptly pulled the show offline, and it hasn’t returned, with Li’s team citing “technical difficulties.” Early June is a prime time for online shopping ahead of June 18, China’s second-biggest day for online sales. But Li’s name now returns blank results on search platforms, even on e-commerce sites.

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Bans on Parler and Trump Show Big Tech’s Power Over Web Conversation

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

bloomberg.com

As Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. banished users and groups supporting the violent mobs at the U.S. Capitol last week — including President Donald Trump himself — downloads surged for a less restrictive social media app called Parler. But in an effort to prevent further riot organizing, Google Inc. and Apple Inc. booted Parler from their app stores, and Amazon.com Inc. shut off its web services.

“We will not cave to pressure from anti-competitive actors!” John Matze, Parler Inc.’s chief executive officer, said on his site Friday. “We WON’T cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech!”

In reality, Matze doesn’t have much choice. His free-speech-centric network, where some extremists turned to rally insurgents and organize future uprisings, was deemed an “ongoing and urgent public safety threat” by Google. Apple quickly rejected as insufficient a Parler plan to moderate its content. Amazon employees asked that the web giant “deny Parler services until it removes posts inciting violence, including at the Presidential inauguration.” Amazon plans to shut down the service at midnight Sunday, according to Matze.
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