China cracks down on ‘uncivilised’ online puns used to discuss sensitive topics
China cracks down on ‘uncivilised’ online puns used to discuss sensitive topics
Campaign targets wordplay and memes that are often used by people to get around censorship controls
China’s internet regulators have launched a campaign cracking down on puns and homophones, one of the last remaining ways for citizens to safely discuss sensitive subjects without recriminations or censorship.
“For some time, various internet jargons and memes have appeared frequently, leaving people more and more confused,” said an editorial by the Communist party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily
China’s online spaces are strictly monitored and censored. Some sensitive topics and terms are strictly banned, such as references to the Tiananmen massacre, or criticism of President Xi Jinping. Insulting individuals or China generally is also frowned upon.
In response, users have adapted, using funny or obscure references and in-jokes to get around the censorship. Many rely on homophones, using phrases that sound very similar in Mandarin, but were written with different Chinese characters, such as the word for “paratrooper” (sǎn bīng) instead of “idiot” (shǎ bī).
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Now that's an old thumbnail picture. Android 4.x on an old-style LG phone, along with the "green blocks" design play store (just after the android market rebrand)
I’m not an android guy. How old?
Android 4 released in 2011
Likely the article author (or editor) simple searched their stock photography subscription with the keywords "chinese text on smart phone" and went with the first result.