The Chinese government has banned the letter 'N' and George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 in a major online censorship clampdown.
Experts believe the crackdown is part of leader Xi Jinping's plans to become a dictator for life. The move has been met with criticism from around the world.
The China Digital Times reports that a list of proposals made by Beijing's National People's Conference includes the letter 'n', George Orwell's novels 'Animal Farm' and '1984', and the phrase 'Xi Zedong', a combination of Mr Xi and former dictator Chairman Mao Zedong's names.
It is not entirely clear why the letter 'n' was briefly banned, just one among hundreds of words and phrases, although some speculate it could be considered a sign of dissent.
Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping take part in a Tea Ceremony at Mr Jinping's official Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing
Charlie Smith, co-founder of GreatFire.org, which helps users track and bypass Chinese censorship, told The Guardian: “[Censors] probably determined it was sensitive and then moved to add that content to the blacklist so others would not be able to post something similar,” he said, noting that the seditious symbol had now been emancipated.
“I doubt that they actually put that much thought into it so sadly, the letter ‘N’ was a victim of this rash decision.”
No comments:
Post a Comment