FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

China's Microblogs Are Leaking Juicy Scandals

Media censorship and China go together like holiday gluttony and a New Year's gym membership.

Media censorship and China go together like holiday gluttony and a New Year’s gym membership. Or peanut butter and jelly. Hell, whatever inane coupling you’d prefer to substitute into this analogy; the point is that this is nothing new. In fact, whenever China’s simulacra of complete internal harmony and accord is threatened, authorities there resort to extreme measures to prevent the dissemination of this information into the media—including the use of giant plaid umbrellas.

Advertisement

Yet, the increasing popularity and proliferation of Chinese social media microblogs like Sina Weibo have made policing the flow of dissident chatter increasingly difficult. Once leaked, information is shared so rapidly that small tidbits of gossip can blow up into front-page scandals overnight, leaving no time for cyber cops to cover their tracks.

Read the rest at Motherboard.