Editing Internet censorship in China (section)

===Tiananmen Square protests and massacre===
{{Main|1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre}}

The Chinese government censors Internet materials related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. According to the government's [[white paper]] in 2010 on the subject of Internet in China, the government protects "the safe flow of internet information and actively guides people to manage websites under the law and use the internet in a wholesome and correct way".<ref name="white paper">{{cite web|title=The Internet in China|url=http://english.gov.cn/2010-06/08/content_1622956_7.htm|publisher=Chinese Government's Official Web Portal|access-date=30 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408094606/http://english.gov.cn/2010-06/08/content_1622956_7.htm|archive-date=8 April 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The government, therefore, prevents people on the Internet from "divulging state secrets, subverting state power and jeopardizing national unification; damaging state honor" and "disrupting social order and stability."<ref name="white paper" /> Law-abiding Chinese websites such as Sina Weibo censors words related to the protests in its search engine.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Sina Weibo is one of the largest Chinese [[microblogging]] services.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} As of October 2012, Weibo's censored words include "[[Tank Man]]."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaiman |first=Jonathan |date=2013-06-04 |title=Tiananmen Square online searches censored by Chinese authorities |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/04/tiananmen-square-online-search-censored |access-date=2023-12-28 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The government also censors words that have similar pronunciation or meaning to "4 June", the date that the government's violent crackdown occurred. "陆肆", for example, is an alternative to "六四" (4 June).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-04 |title=There Are 64 Tiananman Terms Censored on China's Internet Today |url=http://news.yahoo.com/64-tiananman-terms-censored-chinas-153348768.html |access-date=2023-12-28 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US |archive-date=11 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711002028/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/64-tiananman-terms-censored-chinas-153348768.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The government forbids [[Memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|remembrances of the protests]]. Sina Weibo's search engine, for example, censors Hong Kong lyricist Thomas Chow's song called 自由花 or "The Flower of Freedom", since attendees of the [[Vindicate 4 June and Relay the Torch]] rally at Hong Kong's [[Victoria Park, Hong Kong|Victoria Park]] sing this song every year to commemorate the victims of the events.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

The government's Internet censorship of such topics was especially strict during the [[20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests]], which occurred in 2009. According to a Reporters Without Borders' article, searching photos related to the protest such as "4 June" on Baidu, the most popular Chinese search engine, would return blank results and a message stating that the "search does not comply with laws, regulations, and policies".<ref>{{cite news|title=All references to Tiananmen Square massacre closely censored for 20 years|url=http://en.rsf.org/china-all-references-to-tiananmen-square-02-06-2009,33198.html|newspaper=Reporters Without Borders|date=28 March 2014|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203070411/http://en.rsf.org/china-all-references-to-tiananmen-square-02-06-2009,33198.html|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Moreover, a large number of [[netizens]] from China claimed that they were unable to access numerous Western web services such as Twitter, Hotmail, and Flickr in the days leading up to and during the anniversary.<ref name="Websites maintenance">{{cite news|title=Closed for Business: More Chinese Web Sites|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites|access-date=28 March 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114055245/http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/03/closed-for-business-more-chinese-web-sites/|archive-date=14 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Netizens in China claimed that many Chinese web services were temporarily blocked days before and during the anniversary.<ref name="Websites maintenance"/> Netizens also reported that microblogging services including Fanfou and Xiaonei (now known as [[Renren]]) were down with similar messages that claim that their services were "under maintenance" for a few days around the anniversary date.<ref name="Websites maintenance"/>

In 2019, censors once again doubled down during the [[30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests|30th anniversary of the protests]], and by this time had been "largely automated" with [[artificial intelligence|AI]] rejecting protest-related posts.<ref>{{cite news|title=China's robot censors crank up as Tiananmen anniversary nears|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tiananmen-censorship/chinas-robot-censors-crank-up-as-tiananmen-anniversary-nears-idUSKCN1SW03Y|access-date=26 May 2019|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526063221/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tiananmen-censorship/chinas-robot-censors-crank-up-as-tiananmen-anniversary-nears-idUSKCN1SW03Y|archive-date=26 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In May and June 2023, authorities censored Tiananmen protest-related posts and restricted communications of Tiananmen victims' families.<ref name="freedom house 2023" /> In March 2024, censors removed social media posts containing photos of medals awarded to PLA soldiers who [[People's Liberation Army at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|participated]] in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Chinese censors remove video showing off Tiananmen massacre medal |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-tiananmen-massacre-medal-03212024165241.html |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=[[Radio Free Asia]] |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324180804/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-tiananmen-massacre-medal-03212024165241.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Reactions of netizens in China====
In 2009, the Guardian wrote that Chinese netizens responded with subtle protests against the government's temporary blockages of large web services. For instance, Chinese websites made subtle grievances against the state's censorship by sarcastically calling the date 4 June as the "Chinese Internet Maintenance Day".<ref name="Veiled protest">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |title=Chinese websites mark Tiananmen Square anniversary with veiled protest |work=The Guardian |publication-date=4 June 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/04/chinese-websites-tiananmen-square-anniversary |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208073553/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jun/04/chinese-websites-tiananmen-square-anniversary |archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> Owner of the blog Wuqing.org stated, "I, too, am under maintenance".<ref name="Veiled protest" /> The dictionary website Wordku.com voluntarily took its site down with the claim that this was because of the "Chinese Internet Maintenance Day".<ref name="Veiled protest" /> In 2013, Chinese netizens used subtle and sarcastic Internet memes to criticize the government and to bypass censorship by creating and posting humorous pictures or drawings resembling the Tank Man photo on Weibo.<ref name="Big yellow duck">{{cite news|last=Chin|first=Josh|title=Tiananmen Effect: "Big Yellow Duck" a Banned Term|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/06/04/tiananmen-effect-big-yellow-duck-a-banned-term|access-date=28 March 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209145049/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/06/04/tiananmen-effect-big-yellow-duck-a-banned-term/|archive-date=9 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> One of these pictures, for example, showed Florentijin Hofman's [[Rubber Duck (sculpture)|rubber ducks sculptures]] replacing tanks in the Tank Man photo.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/> On Twitter, Hu Jia, a Beijing-based AIDS activist, asked netizens in mainland China to wear black T-shirts on 4 June to oppose censorship and to commemorate the date.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/> Chinese web services such as Weibo eventually censored searches of both "black shirt" and "Big Yellow Duck" in 2013.<ref name="Big yellow duck"/>

As a result, the government further promoted anti-western sentiment. In 2014, [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] general secretary Xi Jinping praised blogger [[Zhou Xiaoping]] for his "positive energy" after the latter argued in an essay titled "Nine Knockout Blows in America's Cold War Against China", that American culture was "eroding the moral foundation and self-confidence of the Chinese people."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/world/asia/china-turns-up-the-rhetoric-against-the-west.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032035/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/world/asia/china-turns-up-the-rhetoric-against-the-west.html |date=18 January 2017 }}  Edward Wong, The New York Times, 11 November 2014.</ref>

====Debates about the significance of Internet resistance to censorship====
According to Chinese studies expert Johan Lagerkvist, scholars [[Pierre Bourdieu]] and [[Michel de Certeau]] argue that this culture of satire is a weapon of resistance against authority.<ref name="After the Internet">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|pages=155–156}}</ref> This is because criticism against authority often results in satirical parodies that "presupposes and confirms emancipation" of the supposedly oppressed people.<ref name="After the Internet"/> Academic writer [[Linda Hutcheon]] argues that some people, however, may view satirical language that is used to criticise the government as "complicity", which can "reinforce rather than subvert conservative attitudes".<ref name="After the Internet page 156">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|page=156}}</ref> Chinese experts [[Perry Link]] and [[Xiao Qiang]], however, oppose this argument. They claim that when sarcastic terms develop into common vocabulary of netizens, these terms would lose their sarcastic characteristic. They then become normal terms that carry significant political meanings that oppose the government.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Link|first1=Perry|first2=Xiao |last2=Qiang|title=From "Fart People" to Citizens|journal=Journal of Democracy|year=2013|volume=24|issue=1|page=82|doi=10.1353/jod.2013.0014|s2cid=153466102}}</ref> Xiao believes that the netizens' freedom to spread information on the Internet has forced the government to listen to popular demands of netizens.<ref name=Battle>{{cite journal|last=Xiang|first=Xiao|title=The Battle for the Chinese Internet|journal=Journal of Democracy|year=2011|volume=22|issue=2|page=47|doi=10.1353/jod.2011.0020|s2cid=201796989}}</ref> For example, the [[Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Information Technology]]'s plan to preinstall mandatory censoring software called [[Green Dam Youth Escort]] on computers failed after popular online opposition against it in 2009, the year of the 20th anniversary of the protest.<ref name="Battle"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Loretta|first1=Chao|title=Green Dam Troubles Mount|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/13/green-dam-troubles-mount.|access-date=8 April 2014|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|first2=Sue |last2=Feng|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308071311/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/13/green-dam-troubles-mount./|archive-date=8 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=胡|first=泳|title=困境与共谋：中国网民权利分析 (in Chinese)|url=http://xwjz.eastday.com/eastday/xwjz/node371540/node371541/u1a4763871.html|publisher=East Day|access-date=8 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409071557/http://xwjz.eastday.com/eastday/xwjz/node371540/node371541/u1a4763871.html|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
     
Lagerkvist states that the Chinese government, however, does not see subtle criticisms on the Internet as real threats that carry significant political meanings and topple the government.<ref name="After the Internet page 157">{{cite book|last=Lagerkvist|first=Johan|title=After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|location=Berlin|page=157}}</ref> He argues that real threats occur only when "laugh mobs" become "organised smart mobs" that directly challenge the government's power.<ref name="After the Internet"/> At a [[TED conference]], [[Michael Anti (journalist)|Michael Anti]] gives a similar reason for the government's lack of enforcement against these Internet memes.<ref name="Anti firewall">{{cite web|title=Michael Anti: Behind the Great Firewall of China|date=30 July 2012 |url=http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_anti_behind_the_great_firewall_of_china/transcript|publisher=TED|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317044825/http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_anti_behind_the_great_firewall_of_china/transcript|archive-date=17 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Anti suggests that the government sometimes allows limited windows of freedom of speech such as Internet memes. Anti explains that this is to guide and generate public opinions that favor the government and to criticize enemies of the party officials.<ref name="Anti firewall"/>

====Internet censorship of the protest in 2013====
The Chinese government has become more efficient in its Internet regulations since the [[20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]]. On 3 June 2013, Sina Weibo quietly suspended usage of the candle icon from the comment input tool, which netizens used to mourn the dead on forums.<ref>{{cite web|title=Subtle censorship at its finest: Weibo took out candle icon ahead of Tiananmen anniversary|url=http://offbeatchina.com/subtle-censorship-at-its-finest-weibo-took-out-candle-icon-ahead-of-tiananmen-anniversary|publisher=Offbeat China|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409030900/http://offbeatchina.com/subtle-censorship-at-its-finest-weibo-took-out-candle-icon-ahead-of-tiananmen-anniversary|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Some searches related to the protest on Chinese website services no longer come up with blank results, but with results that the government had "carefully selected."<ref name="New censorship">{{cite web|title=China Is Experimenting with a New Form of Internet Censorship|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-new-form-of-internet-censorship-replaces-controversial-topics-with-fluff-2013-6|website=Business Insider|access-date=28 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409070805/http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-new-form-of-internet-censorship-replaces-controversial-topics-with-fluff-2013-6|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> These subtle methods of government censorship may cause netizens to believe that their searched materials were not censored.<ref name="New censorship"/>