Censorship of Chinese Social Media Is Real, Comprehensive

chicksdaddy writes "Threatpost has a write-up of a study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University that provides the first conclusive evidence that Chinese government censorship extends to social media sites like Sina Weibo, the popular micro blogging Web site that many have likened to a Chinese Twitter. 'The study ... found that censors in China delete around 16 percent of the messages submitted to Sina Weibo ... The study, released in March, concludes that "soft censorship" in China — the removal of controversial subject matter from blogs and Web pages — is at least as popular as hard censorship, like the blocking of offensive sites. The result is suppression of news about events or individuals that are deemed threatening to the ruling Communist party.'"

Comments

Who Cares, Its None of Your Business

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is any news of censorship in China a front page news story on slashdot? It's not news for nerds, and certainly not relevant to anybody not in China.

Anyway, its a fact of life that the Chinese government censors, its not newsworthy or new to anybody. Why slashdot continues to naval gaze at China's censorship policies is a mystery. Stay out of their internal policies and affairs.

Re:Who Cares, Its None of Your Business

[Benji Minoskovich]

...said the underpaid, overworked Chinese web sensor as he enters his 13th consecutive hour of erasing individual thought from his cubicle in smoky, windowless Beijing office. Perhaps slashdot has a Chinese reader or two. That would make it their business.

Finally there is proof!

[bigredradio]

I am glad there is finally proof. I wasn't quite sure that the PRC would be censoring websites. Now if we can just get proof of that moon landing thing...

Re:Finally there is proof!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just watch the "myth busters" episode it is OBVIOUS they were paid off...