Wu Xiaobo, a prominent Chinese financial and business journalist, has been banned from the Chinese social media app Weibo. The IPI global network condemns this most recent action to censor the Chinese press as well as the government’s long-standing restrictions on the free flow of information.
On Tuesday, June 27, on Wu鈥檚 Weibo page, which has 4.7 million followers, stating that the account 鈥渋s currently in a banned state due to violation of relevant laws and regulations鈥�. All content posted on the page had apparently been deleted.
Weibo, a microblogging website similar to Twitter, is one of the most widely used social media platforms in China, and has been a for censorship by the Chinese government, which worries about the platform鈥檚 ability to influence public opinion.聽聽
Content moderators at Weibo that three accounts had been banned due to 鈥渟preading smears against the development of the securities market鈥� and 鈥渉yping up the unemployment rate鈥�.
Wu is a regular columnist for the Chinese financial magazine , and is well known for his reporting on the Chinese economy, which has struggled to recover in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Chinese government鈥檚 strict 鈥淶ero-Covid鈥� policy, which ended late last year.聽
Much of Wu鈥檚 commentary has focused on China鈥檚 declining birthrate and youth unemployment. Most recently, Wu compared the state of the Chinese economy to the Great Depression, writing, 鈥渢he huge army of the unemployed is likely to become a fuse that ignites the powder keg鈥�.
Last June, several of Wu鈥檚 accounts on different social media platforms were .
China has long been one of the world鈥檚 most restrictive media environments, and is home to some of the toughest online censorship systems, known as . Online censorship has intensified under the administration of President Xi Jinping, who has stepped up content moderation and added to an ever-growing list of 鈥渟ensitive words鈥� not allowed on the internet.聽
鈥淭he Chinese public has a right to know what is going on inside their country,鈥� said IPI Director of Advocacy Amy Brouillette. 鈥淐ensorship of critical voices and restrictions on the free flow of information is unacceptable. Journalists like Wu Xiaobo must be allowed to communicate freely without fear of censorship or suppression.鈥�