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Chinese censors take notice of Twitter-style blogs

The popular personal websites were an unexpected advance in freedom of expression. But this month, four major portals went 'down for maintenance.'

July 31, 2010|By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times

"They told us we had to delete illegal material, especially anti-government information" anywhere it was found, Ng said in an interview. "One security official said they had to shut down a major weibo portal that day and the boss of the company had to go meet with authorities at night, even though it was raining."

Well-known political blogger Michael Anti, whose recent posts include information on the Guangzhou protests, said he too is feeling the heat. Anti said he recently was contacted by an editor at the portal Sina who told him to tone down his weibo feeds if he didn't want his content blocked. Anti capitulated. He's decided to save sensitive material for his Twitter account. Like Ng, the Beijing resident accesses Twitter through a foreign server to avoid Chinese censors.

"Microblogs are going to be more and more nonpolitical," Anti said. "It's just going to be entertainment."

What's clear is that most of China's most-followed microbloggers are celebrities. More than 2 million people subscribe to comedian Yao Chen's Sina weibo.

There, she posted photos of her tour of an earthquake-stricken region of China, as well as shots of one of her more recent purchases: a cream-colored Chanel sweater embroidered with the brand's name in Chinese.

david.pierson@latimes.com

Tommy Yang in The Times' Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

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