Editing Politics of China (section)

=== Advocacy ===
A 2013 study by Harvard University found that while the censorship exists, the purpose of the censorship is not to silence all comments made about the state or any particular issues, but rather to prevent and reduce the probability of [[collective action]].<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=King |first1=Gary |last2=Pan |first2=Jennifer |last3=Roberts |first3=Margaret E. |date=2013 |title=How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression |journal=[[American Political Science Review]] |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=326–343 |doi=10.1017/S0003055413000014 |issn=0003-0554 |jstor=43654017 |s2cid=53577293|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11878767 }}</ref> As the study illustrates, allowing social media to flourish also has allowed negative and positive comments about the state and its leaders to exist.<ref name=":14" /> According to another study, the development of [[Science and technology in China|technology]] and the [[Internet in China|internet]] has also allowed certain civil society advocacy, such as the [[Weiquan movement]], to flourish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Biao |first1=Teng |last2=Mosher |first2=Stacy |date=2012 |title=Rights Defence (weiquan), Microblogs (weibo), and the Surrounding Gaze (weiguan): The Rights Defence Movement Online and Offline |journal=[[China Perspectives]] |volume=3 |issue=91 |pages=29–41 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.5943 |issn=2070-3449 |jstor=24055481 |doi-access=free}}</ref>