<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
                <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
                    <head>
                        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;UTF-8">
                        <title>MCLC: Another crackdown on online expression</title>
                        <style type="text/css">
                                        body {
                                                font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
                                        }
                                </style>
                                <!--[if gte mso 9]>
                                <style type="text/css">
                                .wrapper {
                                        width:500px;
                                        padding: 15px;
                                }
                                .site-title {
                                        text-decoration:none !important; 
                                        margin: 0!important; 
                                        padding:0;
                                        font-weight: 900; 
                                        font-size: 14px; 
                                        text-transform: uppercase; 
                                        color: #002BFF !important;
                                }
                                .meta-data {
                                        margin:0em 0 2.2em 0;
                                        font-size: 13px;
                                        color:#9E9E9E !important;
                                }
                                </style>
                                <![endif]-->
                    </head>
                    <body leftmargin="0" marginwidth="0" topmargin="0" marginheight="0" offset="0" style="margin: 0;padding: 0;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;height: 100% !important;width: 100% !important;">
                                                <div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Helvetica', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;">
                                <table style="width: 100%;" bgcolor="#E7E7E7">
                                        <tbody>
                                                <tr>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                        <td class="wrapper" style="display: block!important; max-width: 600px!important; margin: 0 auto!important; clear: both!important;">
                                                                <div style="padding: 15px; max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto; display: block;">
                                                                        <table style="width: 100%;" bgcolor="#E7E7E7">
                                                                                <tbody>
                                                                                        <tr>
                                                                                                <td><a href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc"><img width="200" style="width: auto; max-width:200px;" src=""></a></td>
                                                                                                <td align="right">
                                                                                                        <h6><a class="site-title" style="text-decoration:none !important; margin: 0!important; padding:0;font-weight: 900; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #002BFF !important;" href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc">MCLC LIST</a></h6>
                                                                                                </td>
                                                                                        </tr>
                                                                                </tbody>
                                                                        </table>
                                                                </div>
                                                        </td>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                </tr>
                                        </tbody>
                                </table>
                                <table style="width: 100%;">
                                        <tbody>
                                                <tr>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                        <td class="wrapper" style="display: block!important; max-width: 600px!important; margin: 0 auto!important; clear: both!important;" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
                                                                <div style="padding: 15px; max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto; display: block;">
                                                                        <table style="width: 100%;">
                                                                                <tbody>
                                                                                        <tr>
                                                                                                <td>
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                <div >
                                                        <h3 style="margin-top:0;"><a style="font-weight: 500; font-size: 21px;line-height: 30px; margin-top:25px; margin-bottom: 10px;" href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc/2018/11/15/another-crackdown-on-online-expression/" target="_blank">Another crackdown on online expression</a></h3>
                                                        <div style="margin:1em 0;font-size: 13px;color:#000 !important;line-height: 23px;">
                                                                                                                                        <p>Source: <a href="http://supchina.com">Sup China</a> (11/14/18)</p>
<p>The National Internet Information Office of China, the country’s top cyber authority, has launched yet another crackdown against online expression, with “self-media,” blogs, and microblogs squarely in the crosshairs.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>More than 9,800 blogging accounts</strong> have been erased from the internet since the campaign started on October 20, according to a <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=e2fab18bf6&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> (in Chinese) from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).</li>
<li><strong>Reasons include</strong> spreading “politically harmful information” (政治有害信息 zhèngzhì yǒuhài xìnxī), creating rumors that disrupt the normal social order, and circulating vulgar content that has a negative impact on teenagers. “The chaotic nature of these self-media accounts seriously trampled on the dignity of laws and regulations, harmed the interests of the people, shaped online public opinion in a negative way, and caused strong backlash from the society,” the statement reads.</li>
<li><strong>The move comes after a series </strong>of commentary articles published by the People’s Daily in October, which criticized bloggers, also known as self-media practitioners, for <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=4d9bd7694d&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing clickbait</a>, <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=98d45621e4&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spreading rumors to mislead the public</a>, and <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=87f0bf42ad&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being driven solely by profit</a>. The Party's house newspaper also <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=778b231afb&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged authorities to introduce more laws and regulations</a> to restore order in the space of online information. (All links in Chinese).</li>
<li><strong>In August 2017</strong>, China <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=3ce9c6ff6f&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initiated investigations into top social media sites</a>, including WeChat and Weibo, claiming that they failed to comply with cyber laws. One month later, the cyberspace authorities moved to <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=94dda1d7f6&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monitor conversations on WeChat more closely</a>, which prompted many users to impose self-censorship by deleting chat groups.</li>
<li>This round of censorship seems to be focused on social media accounts about current affairs, and many of the victims were critical or discussed “sensitive” issues.</li>
<li><strong>However, the purge surprised many</strong> by eradicating the official WeChat account of Guancha.cn 观察者网, a pro-government news site associated with <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=83c606ec98&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eric X. Li</a> (李世默 Lǐ Shìmò), the silver-tongued venture capitalist who writes op-eds in American newspapers defending China's leadership.</li>
<li><strong>The No. 1 Sentry</strong> (一号哨位 yīhào shàowèi), a veteran-initiated military blog that was once <a href="https://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=dc11148ba8&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised</a> (in Chinese) by the People’s Liberation Army Daily for its unique perspective and excellent writing, was also shut down for unknown reasons.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>—Chauncey Jung</em></p>
                                                                                                                        </div>
                                                </div>
                                                <div style="clear:both;"></div>
                                                <div class="meta-data" style="margin:0em 0 2.2em 0;font-size: 13px;color:#9E9E9E !important;float:none;">
                                                        by <a href="mailto:denton.2@osu.edu">denton.2@osu.edu</a> on November 15, 2018                                            </div>
                                                <div style="clear:both;"></div>
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                </td>
                                                                                        </tr>
                                                                                </tbody>
                                                                        </table>
                                                                </div>
                                                        </td>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                </tr>     
                                        </tbody>
                                </table>
                                <table style="width: 100%;">
                                        <tbody>
                                                <tr>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                        <td class="wrapper" style="display: block!important; max-width: 600px!important; margin: 0 auto!important; clear: both!important;" bgcolor="#EFEFEF">
                                                                <div style="padding: 15px; max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto; display: block;">
                                                                        <table style="width: 100%;">
                                                                                <tbody>
                                                                                        <tr>
                                                                                                <td class="footer-content" style="font-size:11px;color:#666 !important;">
                                                                                                        <p style="margin-bottom:30px">
                                                                                                                You are subscribed to email updates from <a href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc">MCLC Resource Center</a>                                                                                                 </p>

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        <p>
                                                                                                                        To stop receiving these emails, <a href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc?sbe_unsubscribe=c7b8d90253e2f9cf">click here</a>.                                                                                                          </p>
                                                                                                                                                                                                                <p></p>
                                                                                                </td>
                                                                                        </tr>
                                                                                </tbody>
                                                                        </table>
                                                                </div>
                                                        </td>
                                                        <td></td>
                                                </tr>     
                                        </tbody>
                                </table>
                        </div>

                
                    </body>
                </html>