Chinese Social Media Platforms Censor U.S. Embassy Posts

Topline

Chinese social media platforms Weibo and WeChat have reportedly taken down posts made from the official account of the U.S. Embassy in China, once again highlighting efforts by Beijing’s internet censors to scrub any posts deemed critical of the Chinese government.

Key Facts

The takedowns were highlighted by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in a tweet on Wednesday morning, where he blamed “PRC censors” for removing the posts about Hong Kong and the recent NATO Summit from the official accounts.

Burns said the Chinese government should allow its citizens to access what U.S. leaders are saying “as the American people hear what Chinese leaders say.”

The deleted posts highlighted by Burns included a post on Weibo—China’s equivalent of Twitter—with an excerpt from President Joe Biden’s press conference at the NATO Madrid Summit.

In his statement to the press in Madrid, Biden spoke about the “challenges that China poses to a rules-based world order” and called out Beijing’s “abusive and coercive trade practices.”

Both Blinken and Watson in their statements accused China of clamping down on democracy and freedom in Hong Kong.

Key Background

Beijing’s online censors have not taken kindly to criticism of the Chinese government or the country’s leadership on their platforms and not even international bodies have been spared. In May, both Weibo and WeChat took down posts shared by official United Nations accounts where World Health Organization chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called China’s zero-Covid policy unsustainable. Images of Tedros’ face and video clips of his comments were scrubbed from the social platforms which said the posts violated local laws. Last month, a popular Chinese influencer’s account was taken down by web censors after he showed off a tank-shaped cake during a live stream on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. In the past, Beijing’s online censors have also taken down images or references to the Disney animated character Winnie the Pooh after some internet users in the country suggested he resembled China’s President Xi Jinping.

Further Reading

China’s Censors Target WHO Chief After Comments Criticizing Flagship Zero-Covid Policy (Forbes)

China’s Internet Censors Try a New Trick: Revealing Users’ Locations (New York Times)

In China, the ‘Great Firewall’ Is Changing a Generation (Human Rights Watch)