Sunday, June 30, 2013

Discussion of Disturbance in Hotan, Xinjiang Disappears From China's Social Networks

On June 28, 2013, the state-sponsored Tianshan Net published an article entitled "Group Gathers for Mass Disturbance in Tuoshan Xinjiang, No Injuries or Fatalities" (新疆妥善处置一起群体聚集闹事事件 无群众伤亡). The report stated:
At 3:30 pm on June 28, an armed group gathered to create a disturbance in Hanerik Township in Hotan, Xinjiang, public security agencies urgently handled the situation, and detained the troublemakers in accordance with the law, and the situation quickly quieted down.
6月28日15时30分许,新疆和田县罕尔日克镇发生一起群体持械聚集闹事事件,公安机关紧急处置,依法抓捕留置闹事人员,事态迅速平息。
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Hotan" (和田), and Tencent Weibo was censoring searches for "Hotan Disturbance" (和田 骚乱).

These screenshots show that a user of Baidu's PostBar (Tieba 贴吧) forums reposted the Tianshan story, and that the post was deleted within hours.
 See also: Violence in Xinjiang Leaves Dozens Dead - A Look at the Censorship

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Violence in Xinjiang Leaves Dozens Dead - A Look at the Censorship

Early in the afternoon of June 26, 2013, the state-sponsored China.org.cn published an English language report from the official news agency Xinhua published a report entitled "Riots in Xinjiang Kill 27." An excerpt:
Riots left 27 people dead early Wednesday in a remote town in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities said. The riots happened at around 6 a.m. in Lukqun township of Shanshan County in Turpan Prefecture.
Later that afternoon, most of China's major online news media outlets had published a Chinese language report entitled "Disturbance Takes Place in Remote Xinjiang City Leaves 27 Dead" (新疆一处边远城市发生骚乱27人死亡), the text of which stated:
According to an English language Xinhua report, at approximately six this morning a disturbance took place in a remote city in Xinjiang in which 27 people died.
据新华社英文稿库,新疆一处边远城市今日早晨6点左右发生骚乱27人死亡。
Within hours the report had been deleted from the following URLs:
Sina also published the report here - http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2013-06-26/131827503298.shtml - but within hours it had replaced the headline and the story with this:
Violent Terrorist Incident Takes Place in Remote Xinjiang City Leaving 27 Dead 
According to an English language Xinhua report, at approximately six this morning an incident of terrorist violence took place in a  remote city in Xinjiang in which 27 people died. 
新疆1处边远城镇发生暴力恐怖事件27人死
据新华社英文稿库,新疆一处边远城镇今日早晨6点左右发生暴力恐怖事件27人死亡。

These screenshots show that, within hours of the initial Xinhua report, Sina Weibo began censoring searches for "Disturbance Takes Place in Xinjiang Leaving 27 Dead" (新疆发生骚乱27人死亡).

These screenshots show that Sina Weibo was also censoring searches for "Shanshan County" (鄯善县).

This screenshot shows that Tencent Weibo was censoring "Xinjiang Disturbance" (新疆 骚乱).

These screenshots show that Baidu was censoring "Xinjiang Disturbance" (新疆 骚乱), but not "Xinjiang Violent Terrorist Incident" (新疆 暴力恐怖事件).

This screenshot shows that, while Baidu does have a PostBar (Tieba 贴吧) forum for "Shanshan County," the top post in that forum, from 2009, states: "In accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, this PostBar can only be browsed, and posting is not allowed." (根据相关法律法规和政策,本吧目前只能浏览,不能发贴。).

Finally, here are the comments posted on the original China.org.cn report as of June 27.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Baidu, Sina, Tencent, and Yahoo.cn Censor Searches Connecting Former Ag Minister to Monsanto

On June 17, 2013, Monsanto announced that China's Ministry of Agriculture had approved the company’s Intacta soybeans, which it’s planning to launch in Brazil for the upcoming crop season. According to Monsanto:
Intacta RR2 PROTM soybeans, genetically modified to resist insects, are a cornerstone of Monsanto’s next-generation soybeans. 
The approval is “a significant milestone” and “showcases the next wave of innovation that is poised to drive the decade of the soybean at Monsanto,” Monsanto President and Chief Commercial Officer Brett Begemann said in a statement.
China's current Minister of Agriculture is Han Changfu (韩长赋). These screenshots show that searches for "Han Changfu Monsanto" (韩长赋 孟山都) and "Han Changfu Genetic Modification" (韩长赋 转基因) on Sina Weibo and Baidu return apparently uncensored results.

Sun Zhengcai (孙政才) was Minister of Agriculture from 2006-2009. These screenshots show that searches for "Sun Zhengcai Monsanto" (孙政才 孟山都) and "Sun Zhengcai Genetic Modification" (孙政才 转基因) on Sina Weibo, Baidu, Tencent's Soso, and Yahoo.cn return censored search results.
Screenshots show Baidu searches for "Sun Zhengcai Monsanto" and
"Sun Zhengcai Genetic Modification" trigger a censorship notice, but
searches for "Sun Zhengcai," "Monsanto," and "Genetic Modification"
by themselves do not.

Screenshots show Soso searches for "Sun Zhengcai Monsanto" and
"Sun Zhengcai Genetic Modification" trigger a censorship notice, but
searches for "Sun Zhengcai," "Monsanto," and "Genetic Modification"
by themselves do not.
Screenshots comparing Yahoo.cn and Yahoo.com search results for
"Sun Zhengcai Monsanto." The Yahoo.cn search results are limited to
Xinhua and China Central Television.
Sina Weibo censors searches for both Sun Zhengcai Monsanto" and
"Sun Zhengcai Genetic Modification" 
Neither Qihoo nor Sogou were censoring searches for these terms.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Story of Civil Rights Lawyer Being Barred From Beijing Hotel Deleted From News Web Sites

On May 22, 2013, the state-sponsored Yunnan Info Daily published an article entitled "Well-Known
Lawyer Reports He Was Stopped for Entering Hotel to Meet Friend for Being a 'Person of Interest'" (知名律师自曝成“重点” 进宾馆会友被挡门外). Some excerpts:
Yesterday evening well-known lawyer Pu Zhiqiang publicized a "somewhat surprising" incident -- that he had been personally listed as a "person of interest," and was prevented from entering a Beijing hotel. According to the hotel, they were merely acting based on information associated with his personal identification card.
. . . .
According to Pu, when he provided [hotel security] with his ID card, they swiped it on a terminal which then stated he was a "person of interest," and refused to allow him entry into the hotel.
. . . .
Yesterday, the lobby manager for the Ruian Hotel said that his "hotel was somewhat special," and they did not admit anyone with a criminal record or any foreigners, and that if an ID card's information said someone was a person of interest, they could only base their decision on whether to allow entry on the content of the information displayed.
知名律师浦志强昨晚在微博公布了一件令其“颇为吃惊”的事情——自己被列为“重点人员”,进入北京一宾馆时行动受阻。对此,宾馆方面称,他们只是根据身份证验证信息行事。
. . . .
浦志强透露,他提供了身份证,对方用终端机刷了一下,告诉他属于“重点人员”,宾馆拒绝接待。
. . . .
瑞安宾馆大堂经理昨日称,其“酒店较特殊”,如果有犯罪记录或外籍人士,一律不接待,若身份证信息显示是重点人员,他们也只能根据信息显示的内容,来判定是否让其进入。
These screenshots show that the news story was subsequently deleted from the Yunnan Information Daily web site, as well from another state-sponsored news web site, 21cn.com.



Original URLs:
It can still be found here: http://money.163.com/13/0522/09/8VFHACDV00253B0H.html
These screenshots show that on May 23 Sina Weibo stopped showing search results for "Pu Zhiqiang Person of Interest" (浦志强 重点人员).

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Sina Weibo Censors Call to Release Those Who Called for Disclosure of Officials' Assets


This screenshot was taken on April 30, 2013, and shows that on that day Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Asset Disclosure Nine Gentlemen" (财产公示九君子).

On May 24, 2013, China-based civil rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong (许志永) published an article on his blog entitled "Citizen’s Statement Regarding the Arrest of the Asset Disclosure Ten Gentlemen" (公民就“财产公示十君子”被捕的声明). The post was signed by Xu,Xiao Shu (笑蜀), Wang Gongquan (王功权), Teng Biao (滕彪), Liu Weiguo (刘卫国), Li Xiongbing (黎雄兵), Liang Xiaojun (梁小军), Li Fangping (李方平), and Xiao Guozhen (肖国珍). It has been translated by Yaxue Cao at Seeing Red In China. Some excerpts:
On March 31, 2013, Yuan Dong, Zhang Baocheng, Ma Xinli, Hou Xin and two others unfurled banners in downtown Xidan plaza, Beijing, calling for officials to publicly disclose their personal assets. Ten or so minutes later, they were taken away by police, and later, four of them were criminally detained on charges of “illegal assembly.”
. . . .
Ding Jiaxi, Zhao Changqing, Sun Hanhui, Wang Yonghong, Li Wei, Qi Yueying didn’t appear on the Xidan scene on March 31, nor were any of them the person-in-charge of that event or directly responsible for it. Some of them had similarly expressed their personal views in other locations in Beijing, but again, none had “disobeyed an order of dismissal” or “seriously undermined the social order,” elements constituting a criminal offence, nor had they been stopped or penalized by the Public Security officers. Their actions cannot possibly constitute illegal assembly or the offence of “provocation and disruption.” 
2013年3月31日,袁冬、张宝成、马新立、侯欣等在北京西单广场展示条幅,呼吁官员公示财产,十多分钟后四人被警察带走,被以“非法集会罪”刑拘。
. . . .
丁家喜、赵常青、孙含会、王永红、李蔚、齐月英,并没有出现在3月31日西单现场,也不是此次活动的负责人或者直接责任人。他们中虽然有人此前在不同场合有过类似的个人表达,但都不存在“拒不服从解散命令”以及“严重破坏社会秩序”的犯罪构成要件,也并未受到公安部门的制止和处罚,不可能构成非法集会罪,也不可能构成“寻衅滋事罪”等其他罪名。
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo began censoring the phrase "Asset Disclosure Ten Gentlemen" (财产公示十君子) on May 26 or 27.

These screenshots were taken on May 26, and show that both Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo were censoring searches for "Ding Jiaxi" (丁家喜) and Zhao Changqing (赵常青).


Monday, June 17, 2013

China's Weibos and Baidu's PostBar Censor Author Murong Xuecun's "Letter to a Nameless Censor"


On May 20, 2013, the Chinese language edition of the New York Times' web site published a letter by Chinese author Murong Xuecun (慕容雪村) entitled "Open Letter to a Nameless Censor" (致黑暗中的弄权者). Some excerpts:
Thanks to your efforts, this great nation of 1.3 billion people does not have a single newspaper that can express objective views, nor a single TV station that broadcasts objective programs, or even the smallest space where people can speak freely. This is your legacy, dear Nameless Censor.
. . . .
Please look closely at these names: Ran Yunfei, writer, scholar; Zhang Xuezhong, professor of law; Xiao Xuehui, professor of ethics; Song Shinan, scholar; He Bing, professor of law; Si Weijiang, renowned lawyer; Shen Yachuan, veteran journalist; Xiang Xiaokai, scholar; Wu Wei, scholar; Wu Zalai, scholar; Teng Biao, renowned lawyer, scholar. The list goes on...Over a period of a just a few days, these people’s Weibo accounts have also vanished at the end of your gun muzzle. This, is your legacy, dear Nameless Censor. Please look at the list again, put your hand on your heart and tell me, and tell yourself and the whole world, what crimes these people have committed. Why did you censor their works and blacklist their names? What legal procedure did you follow and which criteria were violated to provoke you to cock your gun? Which article of the law was broken to oblige you to pull the trigger? 
在你们的努力之下,这13亿人口的国家居然没有一份真正的报纸,这960万平方公里的土地居然没有一寸畅所欲言的土地,这是你的丰碑,不愿透露姓名的先生。
. . . .
请记住下面这些名字:冉云飞,作家、学者;张雪忠,大学教授;肖雪慧,大学教授;宋石男,学者;何兵,大学教授;斯伟江,律师;沈亚川,记者;项小凯,学者;吴伟,学者;吴祚来,学者;滕飚,律师、学者……短短几天之内,这些名字所属的微博帐户相继消失于你的枪口之下。如果我愿意,这名单可以列得更长,这是你的丰碑,不愿透露姓名的先生。现在请你再读一遍,然后把手放在心口,告诉我、告诉你自己,也告诉天下人:这些人犯了什么罪?你为什么要销毁他们的作品、封杀他们的名字?你根据何种程序、何种标准、哪条法律扣动扳机?
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo began censoring the phrase "Open Letter to a Nameless Censor" (致黑暗中的弄权者) hours after it was published.


This screenshot shows that a copy of Murong Xuecun's letter posted on one of Baidu's PostBar (贴吧 Tieba) forums was deleted shortly after it appeared.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Liu Xiaobo's Brother-In-Law Jailed for 11 Years: A Look at Baidu, Sina Weibo and Yahoo.cn Censorship

Images from a deleted
Sina Weibo post.
On Sunday, June 9, 2013 (the day before a three day national holiday in China), a Chinese court convicted Liu Hui (刘晖) of defrauding another man of 3 million yuan and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment.

Liu Hui is the brother of Liu Xia (刘霞), wife of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波).

On Christmas day, 2009, a Chinese court convicted Liu Xiaobo of inciting subversion of state power and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment.

The screenshots below were taken on June 10 and show that a Yahoo.cn search for "Liu Xiaobo Liu Hui" (刘晓波 刘晖) returned only 10 results, and only from Xinhua, People's Daily, and China.com.cn (all operated by the central government and Communist Party). The same search on Yahoo.com returned  dozens of results, and the first page of results included Radio France International, Deutsche Welle, BBC, and Wikipedia.

The screenshot to the right was taken in the morning of June 10, and shows that the top three search results for "Liu Hui" (刘晖) were the following:
Today (9th) a court on the outskirts of Beijing sentenced Liu Hui to 11 years imprisonment. Liu Xia, who had gone to the court to attend the sentencing, made a statement saying the sentence was political persecution, and was completely unacceptable. She condemned those involved to adding to the suppression of her family. In December last year, Liu Xia managed to avoid the surveillance of relevant agencies to visit the home of some friends, and its possible that the punishment of her brother Liu Hui was revenge for that incident.
位于北京市郊外的法院今天(9日)判处刘晖有期徒刑11年。前去旁听的刘霞在法院作出判决后表示,本次判决是政治迫害,完全无法接受。她对有关方面加大对其亲属迫害的行为提出了谴责。去年12月,刘霞曾与避开有关部门的监视前来家中拜访的朋友会面,对其弟刘晖的惩处可能就是对于此事的报复。 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/2788268354/zAFg4nt3U 
After a run to warm up I swam 500 meters, ate tablefull of stuff, watched TV news reports on Liu Hui and Liu Zhijun, hung out at OYC for a few hours~ and the result of completely relaxing my mind, I could only remember that I've got meetings with people every day this holiday, but I've completely forgotten with whom!
跑步热身后包场游了500米,吃一桌子的东西,看了一晚刘晖、刘志军的电视新闻,慢节奏地在OYC呆了几个钟~彻底放空大脑的后果就是,只记得假期每天约了人,却忘记约了谁! 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/2674205980/zAGtHj8wh 
Liu Hui was sentenced to 11 years, this dick [referring to Liu Zhijun] has to be sentenced to 1,100 years.
劉暉被判十一年,這傢伙必須要判1100年 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/1877653043/zADZHmuZ4
The screenshot below was taken in the afternoon of June 10, and shows that all three posts had been deleted, and none of the remaining results bears any relation to the sentencing of Liu Xiaobo's brother-in-law.

The screenshots were taken on the evenings of June 10 and June 11. On June 10 four of the top search results were once again about Liu Hui's sentencing (translated below). Within 24 hours those search results had been deleted, and once again there were no results relating to Liu Xiaobo's brother-in-law. 

While those over here talk about Internet security and human rights with Obama, after the talking's finished they then sentence Liu Xia to 11 years. Its clear for all to see that the Celestial Kingdom's power is growing.
平平这边跟奥巴马说网络安全说人权,谈话结束之后就判了刘晖11年,摆明串人家拉,天朝的势力真的越来越大了。 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/1726691961/zAOn8w1bq

#photo op# Liu Xia's brother Liu Hui, accused of fraud, sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by a court in Huairou, Beijing, denied his political rights for two years, fined 10,000 renminbi. Liu Xia, who had been permited to attend, criticized the case as political persecution, an illegal sentence, and completely unreasonable. Liu Hui's wife already said at the hearing he would appeal, and afterwards sat in the car and hid her face and cried.
#随手拍#刘霞的弟弟刘晖,被控欺诈一案,被北京怀柔法院判监11年,剥夺政治权利2年,罚款一万元人民币。获准旁听的刘霞批评,案件是迫害,属非法判决,完全不合理。刘晖的妻子在庭上已表明会上诉,其后在车上更掩脸痛哭。 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/1830519181/zANXT1UmG 
Liu Hui was tried for a dispute over a real estate transaction. On June 9, a court in Huairou, Beijing sentenced Liu Hui to 11 years imprisonment. His sister Liu Xia attended the hearing, and  Liu Xia said he would appeal. After the sentencing, Liu Xia told reporters, "this is an unreasonable verdict, and we can't accept it. . . ."
刘晖因房地产交易的纠纷被起诉。6月9日,北京市怀柔区法院判处刘晖有期徒刑11年。其姐姐刘霞也旁听了法院判决,刘晖表示将提起上诉。判决下达后,刘霞对记者们表示,"这是不合法的判决,无法接受……" 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/1752732064/zANVdfZbn 
A Beijing court sentenced Liu Hui to 11 years imprisonment and two years deprivation of political rights, and fined him 20,000 renminbi.
北京市法院以诈骗罪判处刘晖有期徒刑11年、剥夺政治权利2年,并处以罚金2万元人民币。 
Original URL: http://weibo.com/3108067434/zANV6auyV
 On June 12, Liu Xia's lawyer, Shang Baojun, posted a letter on the Internet from Liu Xia to Xi Jinping in which she  said: "Mr Chairman, the 'Chinese dream' that you have proposed should be realized through every citizen. I hope the Chinese dream will not turn into a 'Chinese nightmare' for individuals like me." (主席先生,您提出的中国梦,是要靠通过每一个公民来实现的,我期待中国梦不会让我的这些个体变成“中国噩夢”).

These screenshots were taken on June 14, and show that Baidu searches for "Liu Xia" (刘霞) and "Open Letter" (公开信) return apparently uncensored results, but a search for "Liu Xia Open Letter" displays a notice saying "In accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, some search results have not been displayed."(根据相关法律法规和政策,部分搜索结果未予显示。)

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Caixin Reposts Article on "Post Deletion Business" Minus Comments and References to Detained Internet Police Officers

In August 2012 in "Baidu Employees Arrested for Deleting Posts for Cash, Baidu Censors 'Delete Posts'" this blog noted that the state-sponsored Global Times had published an article entitled "Baidu Staff Delete Posts for Cash." That article stated: "According to internal communications from Baidu, an employee, surnamed Lu, was working with professional agents to delete posts."

In February 2013 in "Caixin and Weibos Block Access to Report on Private/Public Cooperation in Internet Censorship" this blog noted that the state-sponsored Caixin Magazine had published an article entitled "The Post Deletion Business" (删帖生意), but that within hours the publicly-available version posted here - http://magazine.caixin.com/2013-02-08/100490897_all.html - had been deleted and visitors to that URL were being re-directed to Caixin's home page.

At some point between February and May of 2013, Caixin restored public access to the full article.

As these screenshots show, however, when it reposted the article Caixin deleted all user comments as well as three sentences from the original version of the article.

Comments deleted:


First deleted sentence:
However, according to information obtained by a Caixin reporter from an internal source at the Yage Times, prior to the current strike hard campaign against illegal Internet public relations, Yage Times had undertaken Baidu blocking keyword business, promoted as: keyword blocking, everything negative can be resolved. This business attracted quite a few enterprises: enterprises fear search engines increasing the influence of negative news more than anything else. In addition, there are always some web sites that can't be handled through public relations, and for those web sites the only effective means is to reduce the negative impact through "key word blocking." According to information disclosed by a Yage Times insider, this business required employing power at levels higher than those web sites, and the costs were very high, and only a small number of companies with special connections could pull it off. The typical price quoted for one job was vary anywhere from 100,000 yuan to millions of yuan, and much of this money was funneled to people with "special connections." Caixin reporters received information from those close to the investigation that, in the current Yage Times case, Internet supervision personnel were taken into custody.
不过,据财新记者从雅歌时代内部人士获知,在此次严打非法网络公关之前,雅歌时代亦曾承接有关在百度屏蔽关键词的业务,宣传语是:关键词屏蔽,一切负面都能解决。这个业务吸引了不少企业:企业最怕的就是搜索引擎会放大负面新闻的影响,另外,总有一些公关不下来的网站,对这类网站,惟一有效的方式就是通过“关键词屏蔽”来减少负面影响。据雅歌时代内部人士透露,这样的业务需要动用在网站之外更高层的力量,成本很高,只有极少数有特殊关系的公司能做到这点。一般对外报价一单从几十万元到上百万元不等,这些钱有很多流入了“特殊关系”人士。新记者从接近调查的人士处获悉,此次雅歌时代一案也有网监人士涉案落网。

Second deleted sentence:

This was only the beginning. As the investigation into the Yage Times deepened, the list of suspects grew longer and longer. The employees of many web sites were detained or investigated, and there were also police officers from the Beijing Public Security's Internet Supervision Department who were detained
这只是一个开始。随着对雅歌时代调查的深入,牵涉的名单越来越长,多家网站有工作人员被捕或被调查,北京市公安局网监处亦有警员被捕


Third deleted sentence:
(Correction: The last sentence of the seventh paragraph contained an incorrect description as originally drafted, and should read: "The employees of many web sites were detained or investigated, and there were also police officers from the Beijing Public Security's Internet Supervision Department who were detained" The online version has already been corrected and apologized.)
(更正:本文第七段最后一句原文表述不确,应为“多家网站有工作人员被捕或被调查,北京市公安局网监处亦有警员被捕”,网络版已做更正并致歉。)


Monday, June 10, 2013

Peng Liyuan Takes Photo With iPhone, China's Major Web Sites Censor "Peng Liyuan iPhone"

On May 8, 2013, the web site of the state sponsored Hubei Television Broadcasting (湖北广播电视
台) published an article entitled "Peng Liyuan Suspected of Using iPhone, Obama Loves His Blackberry, Uncovering the Personal Cell Phones of the World's Presidents" (彭丽媛疑为iPhone5 奥巴马钟情黑莓 揭秘各国总统私人手机).  Peng Liyuan is the wife of PRC President Xi Jinping (习近平).

This screenshot was taken on June 10, and shows that a search for the title of the article on Baidu returns no results, just a censorship notice.
These screenshots were taken on June 10, and show that Baidu censored searches for "Peng Liyuan iPhone" (彭丽媛 iPhone), but not for "Peng Liyuan Phone" (彭丽媛 Phone).

These screenshots show that Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo censored searches for "Peng Liyuan iPhone" (彭丽媛 iPhone), but not for "Peng Liyuan" (彭丽媛).




Saturday, June 8, 2013

Sina Weibo's Censorship of the 24th Anniversary of the Government's June 1989 Tiananmen Square Crackdown


Both the China Digital Times and Citizenlab have posted extensive lists of words censored by Sina Weibo relating to the government's crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Below are some screenshots illustrating Sina's censorship.

See here for examples of how Baidu censored information about what happened in June 1989.

Censorship of the Place it Happened

These screenshots show that on June 4, 2013, the 24th anniversary of the crackdown, Sina Weibo censored "Tiananmen" (天安门) and "TAM" (and stopped censoring those terms the following day).


Censorship of What Happened

These screenshots show Sina Weibo also started censoring "Tanks" (坦克) and "Massacre" (屠杀).




Censorship of When it Happened

These screenshots show Sina Weibo began censoring "Six Four" (六四),  "VIIIIXVIIV" (roman numerals for "8," "9," "6," and "4"), and "24th Anniversary" (24周年).




The screenshots below show that on June 4, 2013 Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "89," "63+1," "65-1," and "1989" in Chinese (一九八九).

Censorship of Who Made it Happen

The screenshots below show that on June 4, 2013 Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Wang Weilin" (王维林 - the name of the man photographed standing in front of the tanks), "Cui Jian" (崔健 - a Chinese musician who played a concert during the protests), "Hu Yaobang" (胡耀邦 - Communist Party leader whose death triggered the protests), and Chen Xitong (陈希同 - mayor of Beijing at the time of the protests who died on June 2, 2013).



Censorship of Reminders That Anything Happened

These screenshots show that Sina Weibo began censoring "Wear a Black Shirt" (穿黑衫) in the run up to June 4, 2013, and stopped censoring it shortly thereafter.


These screenshots show that on June 4, 2013 Sina Weibo was censoring searches for  "Remembrance" (纪念), "Reassess" (平反), "Light a Candle" (点蜡烛), and "A Piece of Red Cloth" (一块红布 - a song played by Cui Jian at Tiananmen Square).



These screenshots show that on June 4, 2013 Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Tomorrow" (明天), "Today" (今天), "Tonight" (今晚), and "This evening" (今夜).


Preparing for Next Year

This screenshot shows that Sina Weibo is already censoring searches for "25th Anniversary" (25周年).

Translation: Xu Zhiyong's Statement in His Own Defense

 Source: https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/694913.html China Digital Times: On April 10, 2023, Xu Zhiyong, a well-known human rights de...