China using WeChat/Twitter to silence people speaking about coronavirus
What's the story
After mass crackdowns, China is going after individual users sharing completely innocuous stuff on social media. According to a report from Vice, several Chinese officials have been using platforms like Twitter and WeChat to track down people spreading information on coronavirus outbreak - the infamous disease that originated in Wuhan and has already claimed over 2,700 lives. Here's more about it.
Internet control
China and its controlled internet regulations
China, an authoritarian regime, has been long using the internet to silence its critics. Be it online dissent or mass protests, the country is always quick to take down posts spreading information about what it considers to be wrong or critical. Lately, the same has been done for coronavirus, with millions of posts criticizing the government's mishandling of the outbreak being taken down.
Issue
Individuals sharing benign coronavirus information also targeted
Along with bulk posts speaking ill of the government and driving mass movements, China is also targeting individual users speaking on coronavirus, Vice reports. The outlet spoke to a number of WeChat and Twitter users and found that their posts on the viral outbreak, even benign ones in some cases, triggered either a direct or indirect response from the Chinese government.
Cases
Various scary cases highlighted
In one of the cases, a Chinese man, who was in the US, shared information about coronavirus with a family in Wuhan via WeChat. Later, he claims, his friends were pushed by the Chinese government to find about his whereabouts in the US and someone, presumably a government official, also tried to break into his WeChat account from Shanghai.
Information
One man even got visit from Chinese officials
A Chinese man who responded to a tweet critical of the Chinese government's mishandling of coronavirus also got a personal visit from officials. They said his action was an attack on China and forced him to sign an agreement saying he'd not repeat such actions.
Cover up
China trying to cover situation in Wuhan
The strict action against individual posts shows that China is looking to contain information about the situation in Wuhan. The country has been harshly criticized for the mishandling of the outbreak and reprimanding the doctor who reported about the virus back in December. Plus, it has also been censoring news reports from Wuhan and taking down posts describing the conditions prevailing there.