As US TikTok users move to RedNote, some are encountering Chinese-style censorship for the first time
As US TikTok users move to RedNote, some are encountering Chinese-style censorship for the first time
Summary
Many Americans joining China’s social media platform RedNote are encountering strict censorship uncommon in Western platforms.
One non-binary user had a post asking if the platform welcomed gay people removed within hours.
Posts on LGBTQ+ topics, fitness photos, and sensitive cultural content have been censored, frustrating users unfamiliar with China's moderation rules.
RedNote is hiring English-language moderators to handle the influx. While some users enjoy cultural exchange, others criticize restrictions.
Analysts see RedNote’s growth among US users as a soft power win for China.
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Anyone who has been using Xitter over the last couple of years has already experienced Chinese style censorship.
Chinese style censorship is more consistent, though. No one is making up rules on the fly.
This is consistent. Anything that makes the racists, fascists, incels, tech bros, and billionaires uncomfortable is blocked.
What makes them uncomfortable could change tomorrow.
Did mentions of Tiananmen Square make China uncomfortable before 1989 or did that change? Did mentions of Winnie the Pooh make China uncomfortable before 2017 or did that change?
I'm not sure what point you were trying to make.
My point was just that Musk has very thin skin.
And Xi doesn't?
The point was obvious...
Chinese censorship is planned and targeted, with the intent to control and suppress dissent. It works hard to maintain a narrative and prevent excessive and rapid shifts so as to achieve a long term goal of control.
The billionaires running American social media (with a special shout to Musk) are mercurial and subject to the petty whims and feelings of the owner.
So while yes, obviously both change and the heads of the CCP are also occasionally subject to emotional responses, the differences between the two are stark and obvious. So no, "everything technically changes" is not a valid counter to the significant differences in intent and volatility.
Claiming you don't understand the point they were making is just being intentionally obtuse.
Thank you. It seems it was clear enough for at least one other person.
I'm sure your point was very clear in your head but it may not be obvious to you that other people can't read your mind. Suggesting that anyone who doesn't get your opaque point is being obtuse is arrogant and childish.
Do better.
That is a comparatively slow rate of change, don't you think so?
That was only two representative examples. Do you actually want me to make an exhaustive list of all of the changes that have happened over time to the Chinese censorship regime?
China censors all literature, film, music, and internet discourse employing advanced technologies and multiple tens of thousands of people while also running the world's largest prison for journalist. VPNs are blocked. Apps like Signal are blocked. Online gaming for minors is limited to 3 hours per day on weekends and holidays only. People get harassed by police for what they post online. Many go to jail for criticizing the government, spreading pornography or health related sexual content (including anything LGBT), supporting Taiwanese independence, or casting doubt on Chinese folk legends. Then, in addition to that (which I have not even begun to do justice to), all media companies run their own internal censorship regimes so as not to get in trouble with the authorities. And this rolls downhill: you the individual self-censor to not get in trouble with your boss or worse.
You don't think that's exactly where the US is heading?
Heading is different from already being there.
Is there a pedant brigade or something?
To the contrary... it's a real concern. That's why we shouldn't falsely equivocate the CCP censorship apparatus to the haphazard moderation impulses of a childish social media CEO.
We've got a lot more to lose, especially with the long-emerging (and currently accelerating) conflux of state and social media.
For insurance, the pending KOSA bill opens a huge opportunity for future government censorship: https://www.techdirt.com/2024/12/09/new-kosa-same-as-old-kosa-but-now-with-elons-ignorant-endorsement/
Yeah… I don’t think you’re the expert on China censorship you present yourself as.
I think you just regurgitated every piece of Cold War propaganda & every rumor about Chinese censorship that you’ve ever heard.
Which of my statements do you disagree with? How would you characterize the state of freedom of speech in the PRC?
I mean, all the Chengdu '89 mums get rounded up at the end of May each year still.
You can't even talk about the Cultural Revolution these days.
Even stating the fact that the RoC still exists will get your WeChat account closed.
I'm not sure what you think PRC censorship is like.