21:13 24 March 2020
China censoring coronavirus information for months
Chinese social media app WeChat and live-streaming app YY have been censoring keywords related to coronavirus since Dec. 31.
According to a study from Citizen Lab, a research body from the University of Toronto, doctors attempted to inform people about coronavirus through social media. However, Citizen Lab found that keywords translated as “Unknown Wuhan Pneumonia” and “Wuhan Seafood Market” were being censored on YY.
Censorship on YY is done on the client-side, meaning certain keywords are censored from the device and updated over time like any other app update. Citizen Lab has been tracking these developments since 2015. WeChat, however, conducts censorship from its servers based on a combination of keywords.
(Medium)
