Chinese social media like Weibo, the equivalent Twitter, and Douyin, the national version of the Tiktok video app, have respectively deleted 1,400 and 6,400 posts with “offensive content” about the conflict. in Ukraine, reports China Daily today.
Since Friday, Weibo has sanctioned 262 users with punishments ranging from suspension for seven days to permanent deletion of the account.
Weibo will “investigate and deal” with “inappropriate and hostile messages” that “promote hate and oppose gender equality,” according to an official statement published this weekend that pointed out “vulgar” posts about “beautiful Ukrainian women”.
Likewise, the social network explained whatmessages that “glorify and encourage” war are an “infraction” of its rules of use.
For its part, the messaging application Wechat , the most used in the Asian country, requested on Saturday its users to maintain “an objective and rational attitude” to create a “clean cyberspace”.
Despite the fact that messages of support for both sides of the war in Ukraine can be found on Chinese networks, there are some instances of censorship against some publications critical of the actions ofRussia, a country with which China maintains a close relationship.
Last Saturday, five historians from prestigious Chinese universities such as Tsinghua published an article criticizing “the large-scale invasion of Ukraine”and declared their “firm opposition” to the Russian offensive, a text that was deleted from Wechat, although it can still be found on other networks in the country.
International services such as Google , Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or Whatsapp remain censored and inaccessible in China.
The Asian power, which has so far avoided condemning Russian actions and circumvented the use of the word “invasion”, maintains a difficult balance during the Ukrainian crisis, in which he tries to combine his support for sovereignty, the territorial integrity of all states and a dialogue solution with support for Russia's security demands.
Furthermore, Beijing has stated its opposition to sanctions against Russia: “unilateral sanctions that are not based on international law”, given that these “will not solve the problems, but will create have new ones,” he explained. over the weekend Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister.
