Sunday, July 21, 2013

China's Web Sites Censor Searches for Information on Lawyer Xu Zhiyong's Detention

Xu Zhiyong (许志永), a Beijing lawyer described by the state-sponsored China Daily as someone who "has been providing legal help to the country's disadvantaged groups" was detained on July 16, 2013. First, Sina and Tencent began censoring searches for his name on their respective Weibos shortly thereafter.

Then, Baidu deleted its Baidu Encyclopedia (百科 Baike) article on Xu.

Now, these screenshots show that, just days after Xu was detained, Baidu and Youdao began censoring "Xu Zhiyong Criminally Detained" (许志永被刑事拘留 - interestingly, on Baidu it was still possible to retrieve results by putting a space between "Xu Zhiyong" and "Criminally Detained").

Sogou and Qihoo also joined in banning search results for the phrase.
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo was censoring searches for "Number Three Police Station" (第三看守所) and Baidu, Qihoo, and Sogou were censoring searches for "Xu Zhiyong Number Three Police Station." (许志永 第三看守所)
These screenshots show that Sina Weibo was also censoring searches for "Liu Weiguo" (刘卫国), a lawyer who attempted to meet with Xu after Xu's detention, and that a search for "Xu Zhiyong Liu Weiguo" on Baidu News returned no results.

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...