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MirrorMan

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Instagram blocked


Source: Global Times Published: 2014-9-30 0:08:14

Instagram, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc (FB.O), has been blocked in Chinese mainland, the censorship watchdog GreatFire.org confirmed with the Global Times on Monday.

Facebook has long been blocked in China and Instagram has not been available on major android markets in the mainland since July. It remains available on the Apple store as of press time.

 

MirrorMan

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China 'censors Hong Kong protest posts on social media'

29 September 2014
From the section China

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The website Free Weibo lists hundreds of posts about the Hong Kong protests censored from Weibo

Chinese authorities appear to be censoring posts about the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests on social media.

Instagram has been banned in mainland China, while posts showing support for the protests were removed from Twitter-like service Weibo.

Meanwhile rallies are being planned across the globe to support Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

Protests in Hong Kong backing electoral reform escalated over the weekend. Thousands remain on the streets.

Chinese users of Instagram began noticing that they could not access the service early on Tuesday and took to social media to complain.

One user on Weibo said: "I woke up this morning. Instagram was banned. I asked my friends. The same thing happened to them. Can China be more twisted? Why ban Instagram on top of Facebook and Twitter? This system makes me speechless."

An Instagram spokesman told the BBC: "We are aware of reports and are looking into it."

On Weibo, posts with certain terms referring to the protests or Hong Kong in general were either being deleted or carefully policed.

The website Free Weibo, which monitors censored content, displayed hundreds of deleted posts that mention Hong Kong and Occupy Central, the pro-democracy movement that has since sparked multiple protests.

Only official news posts and criticism of the protests appear to show up on Weibo.

The number of Weibo posts that could not be accessed had increased five-fold between Friday and Sunday, according to the South China Morning Post.

But comments left on the Weibo posts still visible show a more diverse range of opinions, with some expressing scepticism and others support.

"How could they think that they can push back the bottom line simply by protesting? They are just too naive," said one user.

"They are not against the central government's leadership. They just don't want the central government to interfere in their own politics," said another.

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In Taipei, a small group of protesters gathered to show their support for Hong Kong reforms

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Supporters of the protest have gathered at Hong Kong House in Sydney

Several Chinese media outlets have criticised the protest, calling it an "illegal assembly". But they also sought to play down the demonstrations, with newspapers refraining from publishing photographs and details.

Reports on Hong Kong do not feature prominently on major news websites such as Xinhua and People's Daily, which are instead focusing on the forthcoming 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Wednesday.

The Global Times newspaper published a commentary that had suggested military force could be used to quell the protests, which later appeared to have been pulled from its website.

Knock-on protests

The Hong Kong protests have triggered outpourings of support elsewhere, particularly in Taiwan which has remained independent since it was set up by Chinese nationalists in 1949.

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has backed the Hong Kong protests, saying: "We fully understand and support Hong Kong people in their call for full universal suffrage.

"We urge the mainland authorities to listen to the voice of Hong Kong people and use peaceful and cautious measures to handle these issues."

More than 100 young people from Taiwan and Hong Kong staged a protest in Taipei in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and criticising the Chinese government.

In Sydney, the facade of Hong Kong House was covered in messages of support while some turned up bearing signs calling for "true democracy" in Hong Kong.

Hundreds also signed a petition in support of those in Hong Kong, according to AFP news agency.

A Facebook page has been set up to detail numerous rallies being organised this week across the globe to support the protests.

These include gatherings in New Zealand, the United States, France, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. In the UK, rallies are being planned for London, Edinburgh and Manchester.


 

MirrorMan

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Banned! 7 things you won't find in China

China is gradually relaxing controls in many areas of life but Beijing keeps a tight grip on technology and access to media. These seven items are still off limits.

Change is afoot in China. Its leaders have promised a decisive role for markets in the huge economy, and recently lifted a 14-year ban on games consoles. But in many areas, there's still a long way to go.

Twitter


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Try using Twitter (TWTR), for example. Too bad!

The social media platform can't be accessed from within the so-called Great Firewall of China, a censorship project operated for decades by the Communist Party.

Thousands of websites cannot be viewed inside China either, but social media platforms draw special attention from censors.

Analysts say Beijing was particularly unnerved by the role social media played in the Arab Spring and the 2009 Green Revolution in Iran, leading to a blackout for the service.


 

MirrorMan

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Facebook


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China turned out the lights on Facebook (FB) in 2009, and there are no signs that Beijing plans to restore access to the U.S.- based social media platform.

Some analysts trace the ban to riots that broke out in July of that year between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in the restive western region of Xinjiang.

But others also cite a protectionist commercial motive.

China-based social media sites are allowed to operate in the country, which helps to promote the domestic tech industry. Still, these platforms are heavily censored. Domestic operators accept this as a fact of life, while western tech firms are much less likely to give up control.


 

MirrorMan

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Foreign films

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Chinese regulators allow only 34 foreign films to be shown in theaters each year, severely limiting access to the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

Approved films still face the heavy hand of government censors, who cut anything the Communist Party considers offensive or subversive.

Chinese audiences love the slimmed-down foreign films, and Hollywood is eager for regulators to expand their quota.

Despite the commercial advantage it gives them, Chinese filmmakers are likely to continue to bump heads with Beijing over censorship. China heaped praise on Taiwan-born director Ang Lee when he won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2005. His film, Brokeback Mountain, was never shown in China.


 

MirrorMan

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Casinos

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Beijing outlawed gambling in 1949, and casinos are not allowed to operate in China. Yet many Chinese have an inclination toward games of chance, a tradition that dates back thousands of years.

Today, the blanket ban doesn't stop entrepreneurial Chinese from setting up underground gambling operations and private lotteries.

The policy has also given rise to a ring of casinos that operate just outside Beijing's reach. The most notable of these territories is Macau, which boasts a casino industry that is seven times larger than Las Vegas.
 

MirrorMan

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Websites

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Beijing blocks access to thousands of websites at any given time, including social media platforms and websites that host pornography.

Censors also prohibit Internet users from visiting sites that criticize the Communist Party or address sensitive issues such as human rights.

Search results and social media chatter are also censored, forcing Internet users to come up with a clever alternate language to discuss news or historical events like the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown.

The massive censorship project has been dubbed the Great Firewall of China, and using a Virtual Private Network or secure proxy are the only ways to access forbidden websites.


 

MirrorMan

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Books

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China's General Administration of Press and Publication screens all books before publication in China, and censorship is standard procedure.

Critical talk regarding human rights, Tibet or the Communist Party is off limits. Reporting on the wealth of Chinese officials is also forbidden.

Publishers that skirt the rules are quickly shut down, leaving authors with a choice: Agree to censorship or forfeit access to 1.4 billion potential readers.

Books are often smuggled into China from jurisdictions including Hong Kong, where publishers enjoy more freedom. Bookstores in the city overflow with works on everything from President Xi Jinping to the devastating Chinese famine that killed upwards of 45 million people during the Great Leap Forward.

 

MirrorMan

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Snapchat

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Facebook and Twitter aren't the only social media platforms blocked in China. Chinese users are unable to access Snapchat, either. Youtube is also blocked.

Keeping western firms out has given Chinese tech companies ample time to develop their own networks.

A few of those homegrown platforms are now flourishing.

Weibo and WeChat boast hundreds of millions of users, while streaming video sites Youku, Sohu and iQiyi are very popular.

 

MirrorMan

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WeChat allegedly censoring photos from Hong Kong protests


PUBLISHED : Thursday, 02 October, 2014, 8:14am
UPDATED : Thursday, 02 October, 2014, 11:29am

Tech in Asia and staff reporter

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A pro-democracy demonstrator checks his phone in Hong Kong. WeChat is reportedly blocking messages about the protests. Photo: AFP

As Hong Kong’s Occupy Central protests continue to gather momentum and draw attention, denizens in the city are sharing photos of events on social media. But apparently, photos of the protests posted to WeChat by Hong Kong-based users are being censored, and are not visible for users of the messaging platform in mainland China.

For example, Hong Kong-based blogger Cam MacMurchy shared the screenshots below with Tech in Asia. On the left is an image from Hong Kong he posted to WeChat on September 30th. On the right, a conversation with a Beijing-based friend, who tells Cam that none of the images he’s posted since September 28th are visible (“now” is a misspelling of the word “no”).

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As is probably apparent, Tencent is practicing a form of “hidden” censorship also common on other Chinese social media sites like Weibo. Users can post whatever content they like and it will always appear in their own feed, uncensored. But any friends they might have in China won’t be able to see or comment on the content, and it will appear to them as though nothing has been posted.

It seems that WeChat’s censorship strategy is more sophisticated than previously appreciated, as an earlier rumour had claimed that all images uploaded from Hong Kong-based users were blocked in the mainland.

A number of citizens from the mainland who live in Hong Kong have told the South China Morning Post that, despite a large portion of images they have uploaded to WeChat not being visible to their friends across the border, a few selected images at least appeared to have survived censorship.

It is, of course, no surprise that WeChat is censored in China but it will be interesting to see if this move affects itss user base in Hong Kong in the long term.

Although WeChat is always censored in the mainland, it generally is not in Hong Kong. The current censorship is probably many Hong Kong-based WeChat users first direct experience of having their posts blocked in China. Being subject to censorship is not fun, and it could push Hong Kong’s mobile users towards other messaging platforms once they realise their WeChat posts aren’t being seen by their friends in China.

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Some content in this article originally appeared in Tech in Asia and was edited and republished with permission.


 

laksaboy

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Asset
Weibo and WeChat boast hundreds of millions of users, while streaming video sites Youku, Sohu and iQiyi are very popular.

WeChat allegedly censoring photos from Hong Kong protests

Now you know why the Tiongs, especially the whores, love WeChat so much.

你有微信吗? :biggrin:
 

MirrorMan

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10 Things China Has Banned


“It’s outrageous and unfortunate,” Simon & Schuster president Jonathan Karp told BuzzFeed about Chinese publishers' refusal to purchase translation rights or distribute English-language copies of Hillary Clinton's new book, Hard Choices. “And it’s a pretty clear indication of the low level of intellectual freedom in China right now.” The New York Times bestseller details other examples of the Chinese government's censorship and is critical of certain senior officials Clinton dealt with during her tenure as Secretary of State.

This not the first time Clinton's work has butted up against Chinese censorship. Her earlier memoir, Living History, had certain controversial passages altered without approval, causing Simon & Schuster to ultimately pull the book out of circulation in China.

The refusal to release Hard Choices effectively lands it on the list of things banned in the country—where it joins cultural artifacts, popular television shows, and even narrative devices.

1. GREEN EGGS AND HAM

In 1965, the government of The People's Republic of China decided they like Green Eggs and Ham about as much as mystery-creature Sam does at the start of the book—which is to say, not at all. It was banned until Theodor Seuss Geisl died in 1991 on account of the "portrayal of early Marxism."

2. ALICE IN WONDERLAND

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Lewis Carroll's famous tale of imaginative nonsense came under criticism in America for its assumed portrayal of drug use and possible subtle satire of politics and religion. But even before that, the book had been banned in the Hunan Province in China on the grounds that “animals should not use human language, and that it was disastrous to put animals and human beings on the same level.”

3. THE BIG BANG THEORY

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Over the last generation, American TV shows have found a receptive audience in China. But just recently, the government abruptly banned The Good Wife, NCIS, The Practice, and the popular hit on both sides of the Pacific, The Big Bang Theory. When Chinese fans demanded an explanation, the censorship agency offered only that they were either out of copyright or contained “content that violates China’s constitution, endangers the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, provokes troubles in society, promotes illegal religion and triggers ethnic hatred.”

4. GAMBLING

Except for two state-run lotteries, gambling is illegal in all of mainland China. This has led to a Las Vegas-like casino scene in Macao but the mainland laws are so stringent, even advertising for the nearby legal gambling is forbidden in China.

5. GAMING CONSOLES

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This ban was recently lifted, but only after 14 years without Xbox or Wii or PlayStation in the People's Republic. The government cited the violent content of many games for the ban and certain titles will still be illegal.

6. ONLINE DATING FOR ARMY PERSONNEL

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In 2010, the Communist Party’s Central Military Affairs Commission issued a series of internet restrictions for members of the armed services. “Seeking marriage partners, jobs or making friends through the public media is not permitted. Going online in local Internet cafes is not permitted,” the regulation states. “Opening websites, home pages, blogs and message forums on the Internet is not permitted.” The ban was imposed to prevent personnel from leaking military secrets during their online chats.

7. REMEMBERING THE TIANAMEN SQUARE MASSACRE

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Not only is the incident banned from mention in textbooks and Chinese-controlled websites, over 100 terms are blocked from internet search results around the June 4th anniversary. This year, all of Google search was inactive leading up to the 25th anniversary.

8. JASMINE FLOWERS

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Afraid that the so-called "Jasmine Revolution" in Tunisia would inspire similar insurgence in China, the Chinese Communist Party cracked down on the dainty white flower in 2011. The word was blocked in text messages, video of the president singing a song about jasmine was wiped from the internet, and a vague ban was placed on selling the flower at markets.

9. BRAD PITT, RICHARD GERE, AND MANY OTHER CELEBRITIES

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The Chinese government has proved to have an extremely low tolerance when it comes to supporters of the Tibetan Independence Movement. Actors Harrison Ford and Richard Gere, a devout Buddhist, have been banned from entering the country after publicly expressing their support for Tibet. Martin Scorsese was banned in response to his 1997 film Kundun, which chronicles the life and exile of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. And Brad Pitt is forbidden from entering the country simply for starring in Seven Years in Tibet.

10. AVATAR (IN 2D)

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After enjoying two weeks in 2010 as a hit in China, Avatar 2D was banned. Authorities claimed the move was an economic one, favoring the 3D version, but critics of the decision pointed out that with only 550 such screens nationwide the ban essentially kept the film out of the public sphere. Additionally, China's Central Publicity Department issued an order to the media "prohibiting it from hyping up Avatar." Taken together, the effective ban was seen as an attempt to give domestic films an edge at the box office and censor the content, which could be seen as an allegory for China's policy of forced evictions.

 

tonychat

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Generous Asset
China needs to get a grip of reality.. the whole world do not revolve around them..but oh..that is how 3rd world shit behaves. Just like sinkie losers.
 
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