Loki and Thor with Chinese characteristics (@ZEEKO)
The New Normal: Sina Weibo has changed the way it blocks sensitive keywords; terms that were once just partially blocked now return zero search results. Read about the “upgrade” from Jason Ng of Blocked on Weibo.
As of November 9, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function):
Sparta Redux: The terms below are all plays on words of “18 Big” (十八大 Shíbā dà), the acronym for the 18th Party Congress:
– shit smack (屎吧嗒 shǐ bādā)
– the shit cake is big (屎粑大 shǐ bā dà)
– Sparta (斯巴达 Sībādá)
– Sparbig (斯巴大 Sī bā dà)
– think eight arrive (思八达 sī bā dá)
– thread eight big (丝八大 sī bā dà)
– thread bar big (丝巴大 sī bā dà)
– tear eight big (撕八大 sī bā dà)
– tear bar big (撕巴大 sī bā dà)
– die eight big (死八大 sǐ bā dà)
– die bar big (死巴大 sǐba dà)
Note: All Chinese-language words are tested using simplified characters. The same terms in traditional characters occasionally return different results.
CDT Chinese runs a project that crowd-sources filtered keywords on Sina Weibo search. CDT independently tests the keywords before posting them, but some searches later become accessible again. We welcome readers to contribute to this project so that we can include the most up-to-date information. To add words, check out the form at the bottom of CDT Chinese’s latest sensitive words post.
