China: Reports of Protests Censored

Reports of Protests Censored in Print and Online Media, Names of Flowers Banned

When information of “jasmine revolution” in the Middle East, Northern Africa and China, began circulating through the internet, China’s central authorities immediately responded with heavy censorship. A mainland journalist told the IFJ that it is well-understood that nobody is allowed to write a word of any of the protests in China. Global Times, sister website of state-controlled Xinhua News Agency, reported the protest on February 20, but the next day the report disappeared. “Before the President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak announced he was to step down, how many news reports could you read from the Mainland media outlets? Almost none except for Xinhua which only reported that the Central Government had sent the troops to evacuate Chinese citizens from Egypt,” the journalist said. All relevant words were blocked on the internet, which included not only the term “jasmine” but the names of all types of flowers; “Wangfujing” in Beijing “McDonalds” (one of the proposed protest sites in Wangfujing) and ”jasmine revolution” as well as any reference to the Ambassador of the United States to China, Jon Huntsman, who visited Wangfujing for the February 20 protest with his family. Popular websites such as Sina.com and 163.com posted a warning notice on their websites by reminding all internet users to obey Chinese law otherwise the administrators will work according to the law. Boxun.com, a website that distributed the information on the protests received a serious cyber attack from an unknown source on February 19.

© Scoop Media