d********f
发帖数: 43471 | 1 https://www.ranzware.com/2019/11/25/wechat-keeps-banning-chinese-americans-
for-talking-about-hong-kong/
Pro-democracy candidates won a landslide victory in Hong Kong yesterday, but
many Chinese Americans have been unable to express their approval online.
WeChat, a popular social media messaging app, has been censoring political
messages and disabling people’s accounts if they voice their support for
the movement — even if they’re in the United States.
Bin Xie, an information security analyst at MD Anderson Cancer Center in
Houston, Texas, wrote “The pro-China candidates totally lost” in a WeChat
group before having his account shut down.
Xie is now part of a WhatsApp group for Chinese Americans who’ve recently
been censored on WeChat. He joined the group to talk about what is happening
and discuss what can be done to make it stop. “If you have censorship in
China — fine,” he told The Verge. “But in this country? I’m a Republican
but on WeChat I suffer the same as Democrats [using WeChat]— we are all
censored.”
WeChat is owned by China’s Tencent and widely used within the country.
Research by Citizen Lab suggests the company has implemented a dual system,
with heavy censorship for Chinese users and less restrictive rules for
foreigners. But it is easy for Chinese American users to fall onto the
censored side of the system, particularly if their account has been
previously linked to a Chinese phone number. (Tencent did not respond to a
request for comment.)
In recent months, China’s online censorship practices have had remarkable
power over Western companies, as prominent figures in the US speak out about
the treatment of protestors in Hong Kong. In just the past six months, the
Communist Party in China has forced an NBA general manager to apologize for
a pro-Hong Kong tweet, gotten Hearthstone player Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung
suspended, and pressured Apple into taking down an app used by protestors.
“Part of the problem the [Communist] Party finds itself in is that the
disinformation its spread to people in China is so wildly inaccurate that
there’s very little middle ground,” says Sarah Cook, a senior research
analyst at Freedom House. “Once the veil has lifted and people realize the
protestors aren’t all violent terrorists, the whole thing crumbles. The
Communist Party has painted itself into a corner when it comes to
conversations about Hong Kong, even on the outside.”
Got a tip for us? Use SecureDrop or Signal to securely send messages and
files to The Verge without revealing your identity.
In China, WeChat is used as a messaging app, a social media platform, a news
outlet, and a payment platform. It’s owned by China’s largest tech
company, Tencent, and claims to have 1 billion daily active users. “WeChat
is like this super app in China,” explained Cook. “When someone’s
personal WeChat account gets disabled, people find that it affects their
daily life.”
Losing an account in this way is relatively common in China. The country’s
draconian internet laws allow the government to access user data and censor
content on social media platforms at will. Yet the app is so integrated into
daily life that it’s almost impossible to stop using.
For Americans who have family or friends in China, the app has become a
critical way to stay in touch since the country blocks Facebook and Twitter.
Yet it’s also proved problematic as people try to talk about politics — a
term that has a loose meaning for people in China. “The red lines are
constantly shifting,” Cook says. “It’s political, religious, social, and
economic content. Even information about public health. Things that used to
be on the safe side of the red line are no longer safe.”
Another WeChat user who lives in Minnesota says he posts political content
that appears to support the Chinese government, but he codes his messages in
such a way that his readers know he’s been ironic. “Chinese people know
what I’m writing,” he says. “It superficially looks like I’m supporting,
but the tone shows I am not.”
And even though he is part of Xie’s WhatsApp group, he says he avoids
talking about some politically sensitive topics to keep his family in China
safe and ensure he’s still able to visit. “I can’t speak freely like I
used to,” he says. “I still have to go back and visit my family, and I see
the consequences of speaking out.”
George Shen, a WeChat user in Boston who works at IBM, started a White House
petition asking Congress to stop Tencent from censoring people in the
United States. “Tencent, with operations in the U.S., has been
systematically engaging in censoring public opinions, suppressing dissidents
, violating free speech rights of American citizens and hindering American
democracy,” he wrote.
Congress didn’t respond to Shen’s petition, but he’s continued to lobby
politicians like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) who’ve recently spoken out against
China censoring content on the video-sharing app TikTok. His hope is that
lawmakers will impose sanctions on Tencent if it does not agree to follow
the First Amendment and allow Chinese Americans to discuss politics on the
app.
The WeChat user in Minnesota says he’s surprised Congress still hasn’t
acted. “I came to the US for freedom and democracy,” he adds. “But over
the last few years, I feel that even though I’m in America, I’m monitored.
I can’t speak freely like I used to, even though I live in the US.”
Source
The Verge | r*********t
发帖数: 4911 | 2 只说明一个问题，包子这届的官员素质，普遍很低。墙外挺香港的言论多了去了，在乎
这点？应该是领导和删帖员两方都满脑子浆糊才会对wechat动这种手。 | T*******u
发帖数: 1908 | 3 中共的领导是一蟹不如一蟹。包子算是创造了new low.真是中国人民之福。
【在 r*********t 的大作中提到】
: 只说明一个问题，包子这届的官员素质，普遍很低。墙外挺香港的言论多了去了，在乎
: 这点？应该是领导和删帖员两方都满脑子浆糊才会对wechat动这种手。
| h**0
发帖数: 374 | 4 在中国作威作福，是中国的内政
祸害世界，派五毛绑架美华带节奏，很让人反感
白等躺赢，美华好日无边
【在 T*******u 的大作中提到】
: 中共的领导是一蟹不如一蟹。包子算是创造了new low.真是中国人民之福。
| M*****l
发帖数: 4478 | 5 不一样。那些言论可以墙了，微信的言论是直接给大陆网民看的。你要么把微信墙了，
要么把这些言论删了。
【在 r*********t 的大作中提到】
: 只说明一个问题，包子这届的官员素质，普遍很低。墙外挺香港的言论多了去了，在乎
: 这点？应该是领导和删帖员两方都满脑子浆糊才会对wechat动这种手。
| r*********t
发帖数: 4911 | 6 ’你要么把微信墙了‘ wechat不可与微信用户互加好友，便可以轻易完成。
【在 M*****l 的大作中提到】
: 不一样。那些言论可以墙了，微信的言论是直接给大陆网民看的。你要么把微信墙了，
: 要么把这些言论删了。
| I****s
发帖数: 1167 | 7 胡温要好很多。习一开始伪装的还不错，没想到这么low。习和川这两生生的把中美关
系倒退了几十年。在中国能实行民主制度遥遥无期了。
【在 T*******u 的大作中提到】
: 中共的领导是一蟹不如一蟹。包子算是创造了new low.真是中国人民之福。
| M*****l
发帖数: 4478 | 8 擦你太过分了……
似乎对他们来说还是删了那些言论比较方便
【在 r*********t 的大作中提到】
: ’你要么把微信墙了‘ wechat不可与微信用户互加好友，便可以轻易完成。
| r*********t
发帖数: 4911 | 9 本就是两个软件，互相不加好友，技术上又不难。删贴当然更方便，但是只能做方便之
事，不正是土共目前人员素质不如过去的体现么。
【在 M*****l 的大作中提到】
: 擦你太过分了……
: 似乎对他们来说还是删了那些言论比较方便
| f****t
发帖数: 15913 | 10 明明是习的责任，和川有什么关系，川的反应是一个总统的正常反应
【在 I****s 的大作中提到】
: 胡温要好很多。习一开始伪装的还不错，没想到这么low。习和川这两生生的把中美关
: 系倒退了几十年。在中国能实行民主制度遥遥无期了。
| I****s
发帖数: 1167 | 11 把美国处理新冠不利甩锅给中国，为了自己的竞选拿中国撒气。这还不够？这种反应全
世界就他一个。全世界的人都知道美国新冠大爆发是因为跟欧洲断航晚了。
【在 f****t 的大作中提到】
: 明明是习的责任，和川有什么关系，川的反应是一个总统的正常反应
| M*****l
发帖数: 4478 | 12 扯，它俩完全是一个软件。
我一直用的就是Wechat，跟微信一回事。跟国内的微信无缝衔接，可以收发信息，看朋
友圈，收发红包，转账，支付。
【在 r*********t 的大作中提到】
: 本就是两个软件，互相不加好友，技术上又不难。删贴当然更方便，但是只能做方便之
: 事，不正是土共目前人员素质不如过去的体现么。
| r******0
发帖数: 1 | 13 我觉得包子可以，死硬派不接受西方白左的洗脑，他是合格的领导人
香港的那些傻逼，知不知道民主的下一步就是男变女女变男，断子绝孙没人管？
【在 r*********t 的大作中提到】
: 只说明一个问题，包子这届的官员素质，普遍很低。墙外挺香港的言论多了去了，在乎
: 这点？应该是领导和删帖员两方都满脑子浆糊才会对wechat动这种手。
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