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There were other popular social media platforms in the past, such as Sina Weibo and other online discussion boards, which were not heavily monitored as WeChat i
by datashow 7y ago
There were other popular social media platforms in the past, such as Sina Weibo and other online discussion boards, which were not heavily monitored as WeChat is.
- keanzu 7y agoFair enough. At that time, and we are talking going back 10 years now, did the government lack the will or the technical capability to carry out the large scale monitoring?
- datashow 7y agoI don't think it is a technical thing. Remember niubo, which ran from 2006 to 2013? https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%89%9B%E5%8D%9A%E7%BD%91 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%89%9B%E5%8D%9A%E7%BD%91 It is just a website, there is no technical difficulty to shut it down.
- simonh 7y agoMy wife is Chinese and we used to use Skype to video-chat with her family. From about 2008 the only version of Skype you could download in China was called TOM Skype, a modified version with back doors enabling Chinese state surveillance of communications. Links to regular Skype download sites were blocked and redirected you to TOM Skype. So none of this is really new. As technology and platforms have developed, the Chinese state has improved and expanded it's surveillance and suppression apparatus. I'm no fan of Xi and the situation has definitely worsened under him, but this is how the system works.