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CDT Editor’s Be aware: As we enter 2022, CDT has compiled a particular sequence of options for our readers, providing a glance again on the folks, occasions, controversies, memes and delicate phrases that outlined the previous yr. A few of this content material is drawn from the CDT Chinese language staff’s year-end sequence, with further content material added by the CDT English staff. We hope that CDT readers will take pleasure in this look again on the busy, advanced and interesting yr that was 2021.
We began with the CDT editors’ picks for favourite CDT posts and writing on China in 2021, CDT English prime ten most-read posts of 2021, and the Chinese language web’s prime ten memes of 2021. On this function, we glance again at among the civil society teams, bloggers, and media shops that stated goodbye in 2021.
2021 noticed a continuation of the Chinese language authorities’s years-long crackdown on NGOs, social advocacy organizations and different civil society teams, with teams devoted to a spread of points—feminism, LGBTQ+ points, staff’ rights, environmental safety, authorized rights, science training, and extra—being compelled to shut their social media accounts or disband. CDT has been monitoring these closures and archiving farewell letters from numerous organizations, however many extra organizations and accounts have disappeared with out having the possibility to say goodbye.
Beneath, now we have translated and compiled a few of these letters, and listed among the achievements of the organizations behind them.
Widespread Science Blogs
A variety of widespread science blogs disappeared after being focused by on-line nationalist commentators for minor infractions, together with expressing help for protests in Hong Kong, making unpopular historic feedback, or posting content material perceived as being anti-China.
In June, a contributor to the favored science weblog “Science Squirrel Membership” (科学松鼠会) was accused of whitewashing the wartime chemical and organic experiments of the Imperial Japanese Military’s infamous Unit 731. One other blogger gave an in depth account of this controversy within the article “The Science Squirrel Membership Incident.”
Afterwards, the Science Squirrel Membership issued an apology and introduced that it will shut its Weibo account and stop all exercise. The Science Squirrel Membership, based in 2008, was a public curiosity group devoted to spreading scientific information, and had almost 4 million followers earlier than its Weibo microblog account was closed.
Assertion of Apology
On Might 31, Science Squirrel Membership’s official Weibo account reposted an inappropriate comment that included severe errors, because of inside mismanagement and failure of the frontline operation workers to rigorously fact-check and curate the content material earlier than posting.
Science Squirrel Membership hereby points a most honest apology to the general public for the inappropriate repost, our failure to successfully handle contributors’ remarks, and our negligence in correctly educating our members.
Science Squirrel Membership strongly condemns the inappropriate remarks of that particular contributor. Now we have made the next choices:
- Completely cancel the membership of the contributor (@Ent_evo).
- Delete all previous remarks made by this contributor on our platforms.
- Delete all content material from our official Weibo account and completely stop any updates.
Science Squirrel Membership is an web membership for science writers. We at present have greater than 100 members from numerous universities, firms, media shops, and different establishments. We join over shared pursuits. The connections between our group and particular person members, and people between the members themselves, are very weak. Members contribute widespread science content material freed from cost with out searching for compensation from Science Squirrel Membership. Science Squirrel Membership doesn’t have the suitable to make use of or intrude with any social media posts by members appearing of their particular person capacities.
Members of Science Squirrel Membership used to take turns managing our social media accounts. In recent times, nonetheless, due to different obligations of our members, now we have employed social media professionals to take care of our official Weibo account. Upon reflection, now we have now realized that there are severe loopholes on this mannequin. Furthermore, as a result of interactive nature of Science Squirrel Membership, it’s inconceivable to successfully regulate and monitor what particular person members share on Weibo. Our current mistake has additional uncovered the seriousness of our managerial issues.
Science Squirrel Membership, established in 2008, is dedicated to nurturing the scientific spirit and serving to the general public discern fact from rumors; these are the unique intentions of our founding members.
Over the previous ten-plus years, Science Squirrel Membership has all the time cherished our motherland and resolutely supported the management of the Social gathering. Now we have been dedicated to creating science extra accessible to the general public and helping with our nation’s technological advances. Now we have all the time maintained our authentic function as a nonprofit group.
This would be the final Weibo publish from our official account, after which we are going to delete the account. We are going to study our classes, preserve our requirements, and maintain our floor. With a extra rigorous strategy, we are going to proceed to provide science content material that’s appropriately oriented and factually dependable. We hope that everybody will proceed to watch us and level out our errors.
We sincerely hope that the scientific spirit will unfold far and large, that science and know-how will flourish, and that the way forward for our motherland might be affluent and brilliant.
Science Squirrel Membership [Chinese]
Additionally in June, PaperClip (回形针), a Beijing-based platform identified for widespread science movies, was caught up in a nationalistic backlash after a blogger accused two former PaperClip staffers of being “anti-China.” The positioning was ultimately pressured into shutting down fully, and issued a groveling apology:
A current video uploaded by a person generally known as @赛雷话金 talked about two PaperClip contributors. We hereby present an in depth clarification of the incident: the 2 contributors concerned have left our staff. The individual surnamed Nie joined PaperClip in July 2018, as a college pupil in China. Nie labored as a content material intern earlier than departing in July 2019. The individual surnamed Ji joined PaperClip in Might 2020, and labored as a content material producer earlier than departing in Might 2021. Though these two members have already left the group, it’s a severe dereliction of responsibility on our half that they made remarks on their abroad private social media accounts (each earlier than and through their tenures at PaperClip) that trampled on the sentiments of the nation and overstepped an ethical baseline. And this isn’t the primary time that now we have made such a mistake. We should acknowledge that there are severe points with our staff at PaperClip. Due to this fact, now we have determined to ask a senior skilled from the mainstream press to be our editor-in-chief and function a content material “gatekeeper.” Your entire staff will severely have interaction in self-reflection. We are going to conduct skilled media coaching for everybody at PaperClip, strengthening thought-education and administration. Till the aforesaid reform and coaching is full, we are going to stop posting any new content material. When creating our movies, now we have all the time sought to inform China’s tales effectively, and to showcase the nation’s technological and analysis achievements, all of which should be premised on defending the pursuits of the nation and the dignity of its folks. We hope that everybody will proceed to watch us. [Chinese]
Shortly after the assertion was launched, PaperClip was banned on all main platforms inside China, together with Bilibili, Zhihu, Weibo, and others.
Different science and tradition bloggers who had been banned throughout the identical interval embody Elephant Journal (大象公会) and its founder Huang Zhangjin (黄章晋).
Staff’ Rights Organizations
In August, Pepper Tribe (尖椒部落), a platform targeted on the rights of feminine staff, issued an announcement saying that it will completely shut down its official web site and all social media platforms and accounts:
Thank You All for Supporting Pepper Tribe
Though sudden goodbyes are one thing now we have rehearsed many instances prior to now, this time it really is farewell.
We at Pepper Tribe want to specific our sincerest thanks to each pal who has supported and impressed us, to each ally who has supplied encouragement to fellow staff, and most particularly to the passionate and enthusiastic sisterhood of working ladies now we have met right here. By harnessing your creativity to precise your struggles, explorations, ideas, and emotions about your particular person lives and paths, you will have rewarded us with inspiration, introspection, connection, and validation throughout this shared journey.
Within the lengthy course of time, seven years is just too brief, nevertheless it has been adequate time for us to bear witness to our respective particular person values and private growth. Although the world might disappoint, we are going to proceed on our path, and proceed to make historical past. We don’t remorse having to exit the stage, for now we have come to the sober realization that, at this explicit time limit, now we have carried out all that we may. Though Pepper Tribe isn’t any extra, we imagine that everybody will proceed to nourish their creativity and stay with dignity and braveness, remodeling many small, clear voices right into a refrain of mutual help.
Efficient as we speak, Pepper Tribe, an informational platform devoted to feminine staff, will stop updating content material and completely shut all properties linked to its official account. Fee for manuscripts already printed on the platform might be made as common, and we are going to quickly comply with up with authors who’ve submitted unpublished manuscripts. Thanks in your understanding.
Farewell mates, lest we not meet once more. Might everybody keep secure and sound.
Pepper Tribe
August 9, 2021 [Source]
CDT has archived a few of Pepper Tribe’s Chinese language-language articles, which will also be seen on Pepper Tribe’s account on the web site Issues.
In September, the labor rights weblog Lots (多数事务社) issued a farewell letter to its readers, and its WeChat public account was subsequently banned:
As summer season ends and the autumn chill arrives, Lots should say goodbye to our readers. This hasty farewell is just not what we had hoped for. It has been greater than a yr since Lots first raised its voice. Over the previous yr, societal points and vigorous exchanges of concepts have introduced us nearer to staff, farmers, ladies, sexual and gender minorities, and others who’ve been harmed or mistreated, and society has grow to be higher knowledgeable in regards to the conditions they face.
Now we have mentioned the “996 system” of lengthy working hours and the gig economic system, and have labored exhausting to unfold consciousness of each provision of the Labor Regulation; now we have paid cautious consideration to the residing situations of feminine truck drivers, feminine supply service drivers, and all feminine staff; and we’re at present within the midst of analysis and investigation into meals delivery-service platforms, and sit up for making coverage suggestions for that trade.
Though our identify borrows from the phrase “majority” (多数), it isn’t a type of self-aggrandizement, however reasonably, a humbling reminder of our deep concern and empathy for the lots of staff and the oppressed, and our keen hope for and pursuit of a greater and fairer society. Via our writings and analysis, now we have put into observe our imaginative and prescient for a special sort of society, the sort of society we hope to construct.
But not all nice visions proceed easily, and there are sure to be obstacles alongside the best way. Over the previous yr, numerous left-wing platforms, feminist platforms, and labor-movement platforms have been strangled, however we are going to proceed to cry out from this ever-darkening and oxygen-deprived “iron room” till the very finish. And on this current age when average criticism and profound concepts are not tolerated, if the hearth of concepts can not set the world ablaze, then we—together with our readers—are keen to courageous the winds and have a tendency to the embers that they could not die out. As a result of younger individuals are nonetheless right here, and since the lots stay. [Chinese]
Readers can go to Issues Information to view previous posts from Lots.
A Brick-and-Mortar Bookstore
Along with these social media accounts, one beloved brick-and-mortar bookstore has additionally bid us farewell. Wine Bookstore in Nanjing (换酒书店) was as soon as identified for its distinctive “books for beer/wine” enterprise mannequin, and was usually featured within the media for its contributions to Nanjing’s native shade. In April, following accusations by state media outlet Xinhua Each day that it could be contributing to the delinquency of minors, the bookstore was searched by authorities inspectors and the proprietor was given a warning. It closed its doorways in Might. Beneath is an excerpt from the bookstore’s farewell letter, archived by CDT:
Most likely crucial lesson that life has taught me through the years is that life by no means goes in accordance with plan. Wine Bookstore, which was scheduled to shut on July 6, 2021, will now be closing its bodily location at 81 Jianzi Alley on Might 15.
[…] Not so way back, Wine Bookstore was being profiled within the official media for its “books for beer/wine” mannequin, and it was all the time excessive on the listing of Nanjing’s distinctive bookstores when somebody was selling Nanjing as a literary capital. Now, in a single day, it has immediately grow to be a spot “contributing to the delinquency of minors.”
The inspectors had no selection, really. Even I may sense their helplessness.
After a lot wheedling and coaxing, I managed to reschedule the inspection for the next Monday, once they would come to verify if there have been any indicators that the bookstore was closing. The shop wanted to be emptied out not less than a bit, as a result of the ultimate deadline to shut was Might 15.
As I bodily demonstrated for them how tough it’s to run a small bookstore, I wished to shout, “Why am I so unfortunate? Does something good ever occur in life?”
The inspectors advised me to report back to the Municipal Administration for Market Regulation [in charge of regulating local businesses]. Hating myself for being so obedient, I toddled proper over, and was penalized after I received there. If I hadn’t gone, who is aware of … possibly I’d have been capable of preserve placing them off and placing them off, delaying issues eternally.
Issues don’t all the time work out for the perfect, however I’ve chosen to just accept all of it.
If we can not meet on the bookstore, although the highway be lengthy and the mountains excessive, might we sometime meet once more. [Chinese]
Feminist Blogs and Podcasts
This yr, many feminist bloggers had their social media accounts deleted. In late March, longtime feminist and #MeToo activist Xiao Meili was focused by cyberbullies after a video of her makes an attempt to dissuade a person from smoking in a restaurant went viral. The controversy rapidly engulfed different feminist bloggers. WeChat person @FDU put collectively a timeline of the occasions that culminated in quite a few feminist accounts being banned by Douban:
The incident started on March 29, when feminist Xiao Meili was verbally attacked and splashed with an unknown liquid at a scorching pot restaurant when she tried to discourage a patron at a close-by desk from smoking. On March 30, after a failed try at mediation by the native police station, Xiao Meili posted a video of the incident on Weibo. Her publish ignited public opinion and have become the number-two trending subject on Weibo, garnering main media consideration.
Xiao Meili quickly grew to become the goal of on-line assaults and harassment, and her Sina Weibo account was subsequently banned. Her feminist id was unearthed, in addition to a photograph of her, taken in 2014, that recognized her as a “Hong Kong independence supporter.”
On the identical time, quite a few conservative bloggers […] inspired netizens to report feminist accounts intently related to Xiao Meili, which resulted in platform bans of quite a few feminist accounts, amongst them feminist activist Zheng Churan, feminist columnist Hou Hongbin, a Chengdu-based gender equality group, an artist from Yichuan specializing in feminist themes, and others. […] Feminists and activists similar to Wei Tingting, Li Maizi, Liang Xiaomen, Zhu Xixi, Mimiyana, Xiao Qiqi, and Xianzi, who expressed help and solidarity on Weibo, had been besieged by cyber vigilantes.
On the evening of April 12, about ten feminist-related teams had been banned on Douban. The teams ranged in dimension from only a few hundred members to as many as 40,000 to 50,000 members. [Chinese]
In late April, a bunch of feminist artists created a sequence of banners printed with abusive sexist feedback collected from social media, and displayed them on a barren hilltop in northern China as a protest towards web violence and gender-based on-line bullying. After the media outlet All Now (allnow.com) reported on the undertaking, its WeChat account was closed.
In September, after Xianzi’s sexual harassment case towards CCTV host Zhu Jun was dismissed by the courtroom, many social media accounts that voiced help for Xianzi acquired bans or momentary suspensions. Xianzi’s private Weibo account was additionally banned.
In December, the feminist podcast Seahorse Planet (海马星球) was banned by two mainland Chinese language podcast platforms, and the creator issued a brief assertion:
Sisters, Seahorse Planet has been banned. I’ll proceed to add content material on abroad platforms. I’m sorry that I can’t proceed to accompany you on the Chinternet. I’ll strive to think about one other means. [Chinese]
Seahorse Planet podcasts stay accessible on Apple, Anchor by Spotify, and different abroad platforms.
LGBTQ+ Teams
Over the previous few years, there have been quite a few web exposés revealing how schools and universities conduct intrusive surveys of LGBTQ+ college students. So-called “patriotic influencers” have additionally focused LGBTQ+ teams, accusing them of “corrupting youth” or being “infiltrated by international parts.” The house for LGBTQ+ pupil organizations is shrinking, they usually face difficulties each on-line and offline.
In April, Wuhan College’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Equality Analysis Society (武汉大学性别性向平等研究会) introduced that it will stop all actions:
In regards to the closure of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Equality Analysis Society:
Because it was established in 2015, WHU’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Equality Analysis Society, a grassroots society shaped by Wuhan College college students on their very own initiative, has been targeted on sexual-orientation and gender-related social equality.
Not way back, a student-organized occasion meant to offer voice to ladies grew to become the goal of malicious on-line feedback that misconstrued each the aim of the occasion and the character of our group. These had been broadly disseminated, leading to an unexpectedly damaging impression on the college, and on our group and its members. After cautious reflection and consideration, our pupil members have determined to stop all actions and to cease posting content material to our Weibo and different social media accounts, efficient as we speak.
We want to thank everybody for his or her concern and help, and to supply our honest apologies for this sudden and sudden change of plans.
Though this marks our official goodbye as a corporation, we as people won’t ever stop taking note of problems with sexual orientation and gender equality in our future lives and research. Lastly, to all of you who’re studying this in your screens, all of you who’re involved about problems with sexual orientation and gender equality: we want you all the perfect in your lives and your future research!
WHU Sexual Orientation and Gender Equality Analysis Society
April 20, 2021 [Chinese]
In early July, dozens of WeChat accounts run by LGBTQ+ pupil teams at Chinese language universities had been summarily blocked, with no clarification given. The accounts, a few of which had operated for years with out problem and amassed tens of hundreds of followers, had been reworked in a single day into “unnamed official accounts” devoid of any content material however the message: “All content material has been censored for the account’s violation of web official account data service administration rules.” Some Chinese language netizens “unnamed” their very own WeChat accounts as a gesture of help, and unfold the message to others: “Tonight, we’re all ‘unnamed official accounts.’” As Rebecca Davis reported at Selection, the listing of deleted accounts included teams from a few of China’s most prestigious universities:
These now deleted embody: Tsinghua College’s unofficial LGBTQ membership Purple, Peking College’s unofficial LGBTQ membership Colorsworld; Fudan College’s Zhiheshe; Wuhan College’s [Sexual Orientation] and Gender Equality Analysis [Society]; Nanjing College’s Similar Sky Affiliation for Gender Equality; Xi’an Academy of Positive Artwork’s Olive Tree Group; Renmin College of China’s Intercourse and Gender Analysis Society, and comparable research-oriented teams at Huazhong College of Science and Expertise and East China Regular College, amongst quite a few others situated throughout China. [Source]
In August, a number of incidents drew consideration to the constricting house for LGBTQ+ teams and people in China. The nation’s longest-running LGBTQ+ publication Homosexual Spot (GS乐点) had its official WeChat account banned after publishing an article titled “Right this moment’s Homophobic Incident: A Homosexual Youth Hostel in Wuhan is Pushed Out of the Neighborhood.” (Homosexual Spot was later capable of open a WeChat account below a barely totally different identify, and continues to publish on Weibo, the place it has almost half 1,000,000 followers.) Social media star Feng Xiaoyi was blocked on Douyin (the mainland Chinese language model of TikTok) after some customers reportedly complained that his movies had been too “effeminate” or “missing in masculinity.” The vastly widespread messaging platform QQ blocked numerous LGBTQ+ search phrases, though it later backtracked a bit. Shanghai College, citing obscure “related necessities,” requested its schools to examine their LGBTQ+ college students, delving into their political beliefs, social lives, and psychological well being standing.
“Related reqs” half esp regarding. This Jan article is eg of how uni admin take a look at LGBT college students. Requires pupil cadres to gather data on LGBT college students & for steering counselors to “assist” “non-biologically homosexual college students” “kind the proper views on love & marriage.” https://t.co/n09dTuWxBX pic.twitter.com/6Gb9125dWo
— Darius Longarino 龙大瑞 (@DariusLongarino) August 26, 2021
On November 4, the influential group LGBT Rights Advocacy China (中国同志平等权益促进会) introduced that it was ceasing all actions and shutting down its social media accounts. Based in 2013 by activists Peng Yanzi and AQiang, LGBT Rights Advocacy China had targeted on bettering the authorized rights of LBGTQ+ people through lawsuits and different authorized strategies. Huizhong Wu of the Related Press detailed among the group’s work through the years:
LGBT Rights Advocacy China did work throughout the nation, pushing for the rights of homosexual folks and elevating consciousness in regards to the group. It advocated for same-sex marriage and fought office discrimination by serving to people sue their former employers.
[…] The group usually introduced landmark instances to the courtroom, difficult the regulation to create space for non-traditional households, and sometimes helped begin public discussions on these points.
In April final yr, they helped a lesbian sue for custody rights for her kids, after her associate took them and stopped speaking along with her.
[…] The group additionally helped a younger girl sue textbook publishers for writing that homosexuality was a dysfunction in a excessive profile case that gained nationwide prominence and was reported on by state media. [Source]
Cat Wang of the South China Morning Submit highlighted the farewell letter that LGBT Rights Advocacy China launched to its supporters:
Its remaining message on WeChat, one of many nation’s main social media platforms, stated: “We’re grateful for all of your companionship and help through the years. Please settle for our honest apologies for any inconvenience triggered.
“There should be many uncertainties sooner or later, however we sit up for the day when the clouds have dispersed and we will see the blue sky once more”. [Source]
Later that very same month, The Olive Tree Group (橄榄树公益小组) on the Xi’an Academy of Positive Arts printed a farewell letter urging its members and supporters to embrace love and equality, regardless of the group’s demise:
In December 2015
The Olive Tree was launched by a number of college students
with every subsequent exercise, we grew
from unofficial pupil group to formal membership
providing peer counseling, AIDS prevention, and training on gender range
over our six years, we had
a whole bunch of occasions
over 100 tweets
7000+ on-line followers
and served almost 1,000 folks
in 2021, our account was “banned and unnamed”
as we speak, now we have determined to disband
but we hope all of you’ll keep proud
and that everybody will preserve love of their hearts
as they face the sharp voices
face their true selves
embrace equality
and embrace love
though we should half
I hope that we are going to meet once more
good evening
see you another day [Chinese]
On December 15, one other LGBTQ+ group, Cool Voices (酷儿声音), acquired discover that its WeChat account was completely banned. This picture reveals the notification that Cool Voices acquired from WeChat; the interpretation seems under. (Some earlier content material from Cool Voices has been archived on Free WeChat.)
Notification of Public Account Ban Attributable to Account Violations
Hi there. Following a platform audit, this public account was discovered to comprise content material in violation of the “Interim Provisions on the Administration of the Improvement of the Public Data Companies of Immediate Messaging Instruments.” All such content material has been blocked, and the account has been completely banned.
Account Identify: Cool Voices
Efficient Date: December 15, 2021
Regulation in violation: “Interim Provisions on the Administration of the Improvement of the Public Data Companies of Immediate Messaging Instruments” (click on right here)
Content material in violation: Please log in to the WeChat public web site to view an in depth description of the content material in violation of rules.Contact customer support–>
Tech and Politics Blogger Program-Suppose
In Might, the mysterious blogger generally known as program-think (编程随想) immediately fell silent. Since 2009, Program-Suppose had been posting articles on Blogspot, GitHub, Twitter, and different social media on matters as numerous as coding, Nice Firewall circumvention, Chinese language politics, and the hidden wealth of China’s political elite. The unaccustomed silence led many to imagine program-think had been detained by Chinese language state safety forces. Though program-think didn’t publish a goodbye letter, the lack of their voice on Chinese language social media is broadly mourned. CDT’s Chinese language editors have chosen program-think as our 2021 Particular person of the Yr, in recognition of their incomparable contributions to Chinese language on-line discourse.
Hong Kong Civil Society Teams and Impartial Media
2021 noticed a protracted listing of civil society teams and media shops in Hong Kong being shuttered below menace of prosecution below the Nationwide Safety Regulation, with casualties within the spheres of media, civil rights, politics, and training.
A CDT translation from October summed up the grim state of affairs: “Hong Kong’s civil society is buckling below the load of the Nationwide Safety Regulation. Non-profits, media shops, and advocacy teams are being compelled shut, or else making the tough determination to close themselves down earlier than the authorities do it for them.”
On September 8, police arrested 4 leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Help of Patriotic Democratic Actions of China and charged them with inciting subversion towards state energy. The alliance was accountable for organizing the annual Tiananmen Sq. vigil in Hong Kong. This was adopted by the removing of a number of Tiananmen bloodbath memorials from college campuses in Hong Kong, together with Hong Kong College’s Pillar of Disgrace.
Within the house of simply over one week in late June, the property of the Chinese language-language newspaper Apple Each day (based in 1995) had been frozen, 5 of its editors and journalists had been arrested and charged with conspiring to “collude with a international nation or with exterior parts to hazard nationwide safety,” and the newspaper ceased publishing. The ultimate print version, printed on June 24 and numbering over 1,000,000 copies, included a goodbye letter to readers.
“Beijing…ought to be aware the phrases of #AppleDaily farewell letter: ‘When an apple is buried beneath the soil, its seed will grow to be a tree stuffed with greater and extra stunning apples.’”
Thanks, @limlouisa, beautifully-elegiacally-said. @hrw_chinese https://t.co/yY4kwRE3ED— Sophie Richardson (@SophieHRW) June 30, 2021
Late December and early January led to a brand new cascade of media closures. On December 29, mirroring the techniques used towards Apple Each day, Hong Kong police froze the property of pro-democracy media outlet Stand Information (based in 2014), raided its headquarters, and arrested seven of its present and former workers on fees of conspiring to publish seditious supplies. The publication issued a letter saying its closure, thanking its readers for his or her help, and reiterating its editorial viewpoint: “Stand Information’s editorial coverage was to be impartial and dedicated to safeguarding Hong Kong’s core values of democracy, human rights, freedom, the rule of regulation and justice.”
#BREAKING @StandNewsHK introduced on its FB the information outlet will droop operations instantly and all workers might be dismissed. pic.twitter.com/UyZJcMpdHV
— Xinqi Su 蘇昕琪 (@XinqiSu) December 29, 2021
And identical to Apple Each day, @StandNewsHK‘s web site and Twitter account, which had 115k followers, has been deleted. The lack of articles and content material deprives HK and the world of entry to data as authorities makes use of NSL to dismantle Hong Kong’s press and Web freedom. pic.twitter.com/NBGtFTXA4E
— Angeli Datt (@__datt) December 29, 2021
On January 2, 2022, the Cantonese media outlet Citizen Information (based in 2017) issued a goodbye letter in Chinese and English, and introduced that it will shut for good on January 4. The letter emphasised that the choice was spurred by “the deteriorating media atmosphere” in Hong Kong and the necessity to defend its workers.
We introduced with a heavy coronary heart that CitizenNews will stop operation ranging from Jan 4 (Tue).
To our subscribers and readers, we sincerely thanks in your help. We will all the time treasure this unimaginable journey prior to now 5 years. pic.twitter.com/32nSlQFAZR— 眾新聞 CitizenNews (@hkcnews_com) January 2, 2022
On January 5, presumably to stave off assaults just like these directed at different Hong Kong media shops, the long-running Chinese language-language newspaper Ming Pao (based in 1959) added a disclaimer to its opinion part. The disclaimer, nonetheless rigorously worded, is probably not sufficient to guard Ming Pao from turning into the subsequent goal: a scathing January 10 editorial within the state-owned Ta Kung Pao means that the authorities now have Ming Pao firmly of their sights.
Ming Pao has added a disclaimer to it is opinion part towards sedition regulation, saying criticisms, if any, is aimed to level out errors with the intent to treatment them, and has “completely no intention to incite hatred, discontent, or enmity to gov/different lessons of the inhabitants”. pic.twitter.com/FbbrHqT58X
— Alvin Lum (@alvinllum) January 6, 2022
#NEW A commentary in Ta Kung Pao accuses Ming Pao of desirous to “take over Apple Each day’s function to incite others”, citing an op-ed that touched on the removing of Tiananmen statues
Ming Pao’s new disclaimer in its op-ed part towards sedition regulation “wouldn’t change information”, it says pic.twitter.com/mRKwPq6ecd
— Chan Ho-him (@ThomasHHChan) January 10, 2022
This was even after Ming Pao added a disclaimer that they completely don’t intend to incite hatred when discussing authorities coverage. The house for any media or voice simply received exceedingly narrower, when even Ming Pao is taken into account to cross the “pink line”.https://t.co/gRX1Lnm2Oq
— Struggle For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong. 重光團隊 (@Stand_with_HK) January 10, 2022
RTHK cancelled Allan Au’s radio present in June 2021, a present he has hosted for 11 years.
He had a present and column with Stand Information. Stand Information received shutdown in Dec 2021.
And now Ming Pao is cancelling Allan’s column, January 2022.
disclaimer: Allan is my pal & former colleague. https://t.co/7zBqQ64fqi
— lokman tsui (@lokmantsui) January 10, 2022
On January 9, there was yet one more farewell letter from Hong Kong: HKrev.data, a volunteer-run aggregator of reports and data associated to the protest motion in Hong Kong, introduced that it had grow to be too dangerous to proceed its operations, and thus could be closing its web site instantly.
In view of present circumstances, we have decided it is too dangerous for us to maintain our web site operating, which left us no selection however to stop its operations instantly.
All supplies on our website is offered as archive below Inventive Commons Attribution 4.0 Intl Public License…
— HKRev – Hong Kong Native Information Translation (@HkrevInfo) January 10, 2022
The lack of these and different media shops is just not solely a blow to the folks of Hong Kong, but in addition to readers worldwide who relied on their protection to clarify and contextualize occasions in Hong Kong.
In 2021, Hongkongers misplaced 59 advocacy teams, civil society orgs, unions, and information shops. And we’re about to lose @hkcnews_com tomorrow. Within the new yr, I hope we are going to observe not simply the fragility of what we and people who got here earlier than us had constructed, but in addition our resilience. pic.twitter.com/6jGtNi4yOU
— Sharon Yam (任萃言) (@sharonyamsy) January 3, 2022
Alex Yu contributed considerably to the construction and content material of this publish.
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