China Cracks Down on Social Media Sites Over ‘Rumors’

While Burma is moving with surprising speed toward greater openness, Chinese Internet users have gotten a taste over the weekend of how it feels to move in the opposite direction.

The government – distressed by online rumors at a time of political tension – detained at least six people, shut down 16 websites, and temporarily shut off the comments section on China’s version of Twitter.

The effect seems to have been to made normally apolitical Chinese both indignant – and curious about rumors they might not have otherwise been aware of.

Many young Chinese couldn’t believe it Saturday morning when they signed on to their Weibo accounts – the Chinese equivalent of Twitter – and saw a notice that said:

“Recently, comments left by microbloggers have started to contain much illegal and detrimental information, including rumors.”

It said, to clean up these rumors, Weibo would be suspended for three days – until 8 a.m. Tuesday. The message concluded:

“Necessary clean-up of information is conducive to providing everyone a better communicating atmosphere. We expect your understanding and consideration. Thank your for your support.”

A 21-year-old university student responded to the actions by saying, “it’s unbelievable they’d do this.” His girlfriend, who’s out shopping with him, chimed in. She said, “it’s really inconvenient. The flow of information of the Internet is supposed to be free. But in Chinese, there’s so much they don’t want the public to know.”

Neither of these two want their names known – because they know it’s a politically sensitive time. How do they know, with all the attempts at censorship by Chinese officialdom?

The university student uses a proxy server to get around the censors. And what a couple of weeks it’s been to read uncensored reports – the biggest political shakeup China has seen in two decades, with a tangled mess of wild rumors and apparent facts.

There were rumors of a coup attempt, and gunfire in the leadership compound – apparently unfounded. Reports of the ousting of Chongqing Governor Bo Xilai, just months before he’d hoped to step into one of China’s top nine slots – true.

There were suspicions about the mysterious sudden death last November of a 41-year-old British consultant with close ties to Bo Xilai – strong enough that the British government has asked Chinese authorities to reopen the case.

And the Wall Street Journal has reported that friends of the consultant say he told them he feared for his safety, because he’d refused when Bo Xilai’s wife urged him to divorce his Chinese wife and swear an oath of loyalty to Bo’s family.

All very Godfather. Not the image China’s Communist Party wants to project in a year of leadership transition.

“I understand their uneasiness, because it’s hurting their image,” said Gao Jing, editor-in-chief of the website “The Ministry of Tofu,” which closely follows the Chinese Internet. “They want to project an image of harmonious society. And it’s unharmonious. So I know why they want to put a lid on discussion. But it’s not a wise move.”

She says, many – perhaps most – people who use Weibo are apolitical, and weren’t following the outsized drama unfolding in and around Chongqing – until the government disabled their ability to comment on Weibo.

“To me, it’s like a police raid on the whole community that’s partying and having fun, just in search of a criminal who did a petty crime,” she said. “So it’s a buzz kill. To some it’s a buzz kill, and to others, it’s an affront. Because they were not involved before.”

One of the affronted is Wang Ran, the CEO of the group China eCapital. He posted a comment saying,

“I’ve finally come to realize that our limited freedom of speech is as fragile as the wings of a cicada. I am so afraid that we may wake up one morning only to find there is no Internet in China.

Chinese social media entrepreneur Isaac Mao says – anxieties like that, may not be all bad.

“This is also good for the end user people, that they can predict (anticipate) that someday, the authorities could do something to them, harshly, maybe more than commenting, shut down Weibo totally, so they have some options in discussion already,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing for the Internet users in the long run.”

Just in the past three days, he says, more Chinese are finding ways around the censors, and getting onto Twitter – which is blocked in China. That would be an unintended consequence. China’s state-run media have made it clear over the past few days how the government would like Weibo users to react.

Kind of like this hotel worker, name Wu.

“For government, it’s necessary, because some comments not very good, and strange, make something like scandal. So we don’t think it’s a good thing.

Mary Kay Magistad: “You think it’s good for stability, or?

“It’s not bad,” the hotel worker said. “For two or three days, it’s ok…one month, I not agree about this.”

It’s easy to say, when you’re not one of those detained, or finding your Weibo account closed – not for having spread coup rumors, just for having a record of being critical.

One case of each happened to social critics I’ve interviewed in the past. They both declined to talk on Monday.

A People’s Daily editorial over the weekend talked about the need to silence in turbulent times to silence what it called “noise.” It said, “only when we are not afraid of the difficulties, not disturbed by discordant voices, not confused by rumors, can we ensure our thoughts and wisdom are unified to work on the task at hand.”

Isaac Mao read the crackdown this way:

“I think it’s the fear from the authorities, much more than ever before.”

But much more than ever before, a connected online community is pushing back, with jokes, cartoons and satire, lampooning the government’s efforts at control.

Mixed in is the occasional sharp truth – like what property magnate Zhang Xin, of SOHO China, wrote to her 3 million Weibo followers:

“Is stopping comments on Weibo really the best way to stop rumors? No – but transparency and openness will. The more speech is discouraged, the more rumors there will be.”

In this year of leadership transition, bet on it.

Follow @marykaymagistad