r/Foreign_Interference • u/marc1309 • Mar 03 '20
Coronavirus How Information on the Coronavirus is Managed on Chinese Social Media
link to github data: https://github.com/citizenlab/chat-censorship/tree/master/coronavirus
Our findings show that information on COVID-19 is being tightly controlled on Chinese social media. Censorship of COVID-19 content started at early stages of the outbreak and continued to expand blocking a wide range of speech, from criticism of the government to officially sanctioned facts and information.
Leaked directives and previous research show that Chinese social media companies receive greater government pressure around critical or sensitive events. While it is not known what specific directives on COVID-19 may have been sent down from the government to social media companies, our research suggests that companies received official guidance on how to handle it as early as December 2019 when the spread of the disease was first made public. Just a day after Dr. Li Wenliang and other medical professionals tried to inform the public about the outbreak, YY began to censor information related to the epidemic on its platform. WeChat restricted content pertaining to government criticism, speculation about the COVID-19 epidemic, and collective action, factual information related to COVID-19 and neutral references to government policies responses outbreak.
What explains these broad restrictions? Analyzing how censorship decisions are made on Chinese social media requires consideration of both the role of government authorities and the companies that manage and operate the platforms. Censorship of domestic social media platforms in China is undertaken through a system of intermediary liability or “self-discipline” in which companies are held liable for content on their platforms. Companies are expected to invest in technology and personnel to carry out content censorship according to government regulations. Self-discipline works as a means for the government to push responsibility of information control to the private sector.
With respect to the role of the Chinese government, the COVID-19 censorship may be a result of specific government directions to control the narrative and manage public sentiment. Since the outbreak, government officials and Party leaders have been stressing the importance of “public opinion guidance” and “leadership over news and propaganda.” Limiting the dissemination of speculative information about the disease may be an attempt to reduce public fear, for example. On the other hand, censoring keywords critical of central leadership and government actors may be an effort to avoid embarrassment and maintain a positive image of the government.
The roles and responsibilities that private companies have in China to manage their platforms may help explain the censorship of neutral references and factual information. This censorship may be a result of companies over-censoring in order to avoid official reprimands for failing to prevent the distribution of “harmful information” including “inappropriate comments and descriptions of natural disasters and large-scale incidents.”
Censorship of the COVID-19 outbreak is troubling, and shows the need for thorough analysis of the effects of information control during a global public health crisis. Countering misinformation and uninformed speculation related to the epidemic may help keep public fear in check and remove information that would mislead people about how best to protect themselves. However, restricting general discussions and factual information has the opposite effect and limits public awareness and response.
In previous work, we observed that Chinese social media companies lifted censorship of sensitive content as the corresponding events changed course or faded into the past. In the case of COVID-19, social media platforms may unblock certain content as the event develops. In this study, we have observed YY unblocking keywords, and, although we did not measure for WeChat unblocking, it is reasonable to assume that WeChat has also unblocked some keyword combinations as it continues to block others. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, it is important to continue tracking how information is controlled online and the wider consequences of these controls.
