China has a total population of 1.37 billion, and an online population of 731 million who have a highly restricted internet access. China has banned the use of Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter. Although these social media platforms have been blocked, new platforms that are equivalent to these have been introduced to keep the social media sphere flowing. These are Baibu (Google), Weibo (Twitter), Renren (Facebook), Youku and Toudu (YouTube). “China is able to control such a vast ocean of content through the largest system of censorship in the world, aptly known as the Great Firewall of China. It’s a joint effort between government monitors and the technology and telecommunications companies that are compelled to enforce the state’s rules”. (Bloomberg News, 2017). Although China has restricted the country from using certain websites and networking with people, they are still provided with the same opportunity through similar platforms which are more restrictive and protective from certain data. “Now the government employs at least 50,000 people to enforce censorship, barring websites it disapproves of and forcing search engines to filter out content considered harmful” (Bloomberg News, 2017). An example of the strict censorship is the comparison of Chinese President XI with Winnie the Pooh. “Images of Winnie the Pooh were also blocked. The Chinese ruler has been likened to the cartoon bear in the past, with critics of Xi mocking him for having similar physical characteristics to the portly bear.” (Fortune, 2018). The implementation of The Great Firewall is due to reasons like these where the government fears the spread of images and ideas that are quite threatful. Weibo is a platform similar to Twitter for Chinese micro bloggers to connect and communicate with each other, “According to the Chinese company's first quarter results, it has 340 million active monthly users, 30% up on the previous year. About 154 million people use the site daily, 91% of whom access it via mobile.” (BBC News, 2018). Yao Chen is an example of a famous micro blogger and one of China’s biggest influencer through Weibo. “Yao Chen (1976) is a Chinese actress and Weibo celebrity, who was mentioned as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine”. (Koetse, 2018). “Yao Chen is not necessarily China’s number one actress, but she was one of the first celebrities to share her personal life on Weibo since 2009, and interact with her fans. On Weibo, she talks about her everyday life, family, news-related issues, work, and fashion. She posts personal pictures every day. The combination of her popularity due to acting work, combined with her frequent Weibo updates and closeness to her fans, have made Yao Chen the number one Weibo celebrity.” (Koetse, 2018). Although many questions arise regarding the strict censorship that has been developed, whether it is really to protect the citizens and whether they receive enough freedom? It can be said that, China is still provided with the opportunity to socialise and communicate with people online within China through the more protective and restricted websites. However, citizens of China are not able to do the same with people located international.
Koetse, M. (2018). Weibo Super Stars: Chinese Celebrities With Most Weibo Followers. [online] Whatsonweibo.com. Available at: https://www.whatsonweibo.com/weibo-super-stars-chinese-celebrities-with-most-weibo-followers/
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