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Subscribe to RSSBEIJING – The sudden appearance and rapid disappearance of dissident artist Ai Weiwei on China’s version of Twitter has provided a window into the zany, fast-paced and utterly incomprehensible world of social media censorship in the communist state.
Ai told NBC News that he had been told that -- since new rules were introduced over the weekend on the mandatory real-name registration of every account on the Twitter-style Sina Weibo website -- his name was no longer being blocked on the site.
“Before if you looked up my name on Sina Weibo you got a message that said that it was a ‘sensitive or illegal word being used,’” Ai told NBC News Monday. “Yesterday a friend told me that my name was no longer being blocked, so we thought we’d give it a try.”
Ai, whose outspoken criticism of China’ ruling Communist Party and alleged tax-evasion led to his detention for 81 days last year, has had his name censored by China’s “Great Firewall” and his physical travel has also been restricted.
So the sudden discovery that his name was suddenly viewable and searchable on Weibo spurred him to experiment.
“I just wanted to see if this policy really applies. They [new internet rules] said if you use your real name and identity, you can open your own Weibo account,” Ai said, “so we tried and found that it worked.”
"Ai Weiwei testing, 3/19/2012" would be Ai’s first and last post under his Weibo account.
Account deleted
In a little under two hours, 10,680 people flocked to follow him online before censors deleted his account.
Though unsurprised by the number of followers he attracted in such a short time, he still can’t explain why he was suddenly able to open an account.
“I have no idea. Some people said it may just be a mistake, I have no idea,” he said.
Read more news from Behind the Wall
Curiously, the introduction of the new rules was followed shortly afterward by the banning of the Chinese term for “real-name registration.”
Weibo users had been comparing notes regarding whose accounts had or hadn’t been suspended for not providing their real names. The blocking of “real-name registration” appeared to happen because the discussion of the topic became so widespread.
Sildeshow: History of US-China relations
Sina has provided some information about how many of its users have opted to register their Weibo accounts with their real identities. The last official statistic released was a week ago when the company announced that it anticipated 60% of its users would be registered by last Friday’s deadline.
Earlier Monday, NBC News attempted to create a new Weibo account using an anonymous identity. While the site seemed to accept the information filled in, no confirming email required to start using the account ever showed up in our inbox.
'Jasmine Revolution'
However, some users who say they have not submitted any identification to Sina claim they have the ‘V’ badge that all users who verify their identity have on the site.
China’s government is sensitive about the destabilizing potential of social media sites as seen in places like Egypt, Libya and most recently Syria.
Chinese TV show 'Interviews before Execution' stirs controversy
An anonymous call for a “Jasmine Revolution” early last year sparked a tightening of restrictions on such sites and increased calls by Chinese regulators and officials for real name registration.
Another newly banned word was “Ferrari,” amid intense gossiping over the potential identity of the owner of a Ferrari who crashed their car early Sunday morning in Beijing, killing one and injuring two others.
The topic that was quickly censored after users speculated that the victim could have been the child of a high-level Communist official.
NBC News’ Bo Gu contributed research to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
"Testing..." BANNED.
Oh, China. What are you so afraid of? You silly little dictatorship.
Comment deleted for containing sensitive or illegal word.
Exactly! It goes on here too
Win.
What a bunch of lame dictators they have in China. Afraid of simple words because they know the truth will hurt them. I would suggest to Mr Weiwei's supporters, and others that wish to exercise their rights to free speech in China and elsewhere, that they band together to attack/break into some of the Chinese government's e-mails and other systems and start exposing them to the Chinese people for what they really are, corrupt to the core suppressors of human freedoms designed to sustain their own power.
When will the people of China finally stand up for their own rights? You have tools at your disposal, use them. If you do so as a group it would be over in a flash. The government in China can not withstand the unified efforts of large segments of the Chinese population.
Weibo.com won't pull up in chrome, but will in Firefox... here is their whois information:
Registrant:
Sina.com Technology (China) Co.,Ltd domainname@staff.sina.com.cn +86.1058983038 +86.1082607527
Sina.com Technology (China) Co.,Ltd
Bei jing
Bei jing,Bei jing,CN 100080
Domain Name:weibo.com
Record last updated at 2011-04-02 05:38:27
Record created on 3/20/1999
Record expired on 03/20/2111
Domain servers in listed order:
ns1.sina.com.cn ns2.sina.com.cn
Administrator:
name:(Guomin Xie)
Email:(domainname@staff.sina.com.cn) tel-- +86.1058983038
fax:(+86.1082607527)
Sina.com Technology (China) Co.,Ltd
Bei jing
Bei jing
Bei jing,
CN
zipcode:100080
Technical Contactor:
name:(Guomin Xie)
Email:(domainname@staff.sina.com.cn) tel-- +86.1058983038
fax:(+86.1082607527)
Sina.com Technology (China) Co.,Ltd
Bei jing
Bei jing
Bei jing,
CN
zipcode:100080
Billing Contactor:
name:(Guomin Xie)
Email:(domainname@staff.sina.com.cn) tel-- +86.1058983038
fax:(+86.1082607527)
Sina.com Technology (China) Co.,Ltd
Bei jing
Bei jing
Bei jing,
CN
zipcode:100080
Registrar: 35 TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
Whois Server: whois.35.com
Creation Date: 20-MAR-1999
Updated Date: 02-APR-2011
Expiration Date: 20-MAR-2021
Nameserver: NS1.SINA.COM.CN
Nameserver: NS2.SINA.COM.CN
Nameserver: NS3.SINA.COM.CN
Nameserver: NS4.SINA.COM.CN
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
There is over 600 million Chinese men who can raise up and fight for democracy. All it takes is a tiny spark, remember in history that no ruling government lasts long in China could be thousands of years or decades.
People in the West basically have no real understanding of the Chinese people, and their mentality. Ai Weiwei is famous, but in China, very few people have ever heard about him. You could say it's because his name is censored, but even it weren't, I doubt he would be famous, either. Why? As a Chinese myself, I have the confidence to say that at least the majority of my generation (born in late 80s), can't care less about what's going in Chinese politics. Democracy? Freedom of speech? It's not really what we are interested in...actually, we have the freedom to say and see whatever we are interested in...the problem is, those stuff being censored, we are not interested in it either. So even it it weren't censored, it still wouldn't be a big issue for us.
Besides, Chinese are very different from Europeans or Americans who have fought for their freedom. Westerners have a strong desire to stand up and protest if they can't tolerate something. We Chinese are different? Do you guys know the most popular job in China, also the most difficult one to get, is to be employed by the government. I doubt many Americans are interested in working for the Federal government. Yes, the Chinese government is criticized for being corrupted or authoritarian, but we Chinese are not interested in possibly sacrificing our life to change it, if we could. But it's still a question. We might sacrifice our life for nothing eventually. Chinese are not interested in doing things that might not bring immediate interest to us personally. We want to be part of the corrupted government, we want to become a corrupted official with privileges, so that we can dictate others and become super rich.
To Lei Chen ---"Do you guys know the most popular job in China, also the most difficult one to get, is to be employed by the government.I doubt many Americans are interested in working for the Federal government.
Who would want a job that had nearly 0% chance for layoff, great benefits, loads of vacations days and bankers hours.
Quit teasing the weiwei.
And yet we still trade with China... but keep enforcing the embargo on Cuba, yeah that seems fair.