Microblogging platform Weibo is cracking down on speech about crackdowns on speech. In a weekly “safety” digest published to an official Weibo administrators’ account, the platform announced that it had suspended over 10 accounts for “hyping the censorship of other accounts.” The owners of the accounts were issued suspensions (禁言, jìnyán) for posting about, or “hyping,” suspensions imposed on other accounts. Such suspensions are often imposed for violating Weibo platform rules and regulations, or transgressing Weibo’s numerous but unwritten political taboos. 

It seems that this round of censorship was targeted at accounts that noted the suspension of Lao Dongyan‘s Weibo account. Lao is an outspoken Tsinghua law professor who recently criticized the Chinese government’s draft proposal to create a national internet ID program. In a post that was later taken down by censors, Lao argued that the new program is aimed at “controlling people’s behavior on the Internet.” Her Weibo account was subsequently suspended for 90 days. On X, Jeff Li, a Toronto-based YouTuber and occasional contributor to FTChinese.com, claimed that his Weibo account @我是二姐夫 (@wǒshìèrjiěfū, “I’m the second brother-in-law”), was among those suspended for sharing Lao Dongyan’s censored essay, although Li denied “hyping” the suspension of Lao’s account. On Weibo, there was speculation that some other accounts may have been banned for discussing or commenting on Hu Xijin’s disappearance from the site. Hu, a prominent online commentator who was formerly editor-in-chief of the Global Times, was reportedly banned from Weibo for his comments on the private economy after the Third Plenum, a top Party conclave held once every five years.

Below is a screenshot of the Weibo safety digest, followed by an English translation of the digest content. It lists a number of accounts (anonymized in the original Chinese post via the use of asterisks) that have been suspended for reasons including “hyping the censorship of other accounts,” “repeatedly posting negative economic news,” or “flooding Weibo with harmful foreign information”:

2024, Volume 29 

Weekly Safety Tips

Example Cases

@ling**xing, @wo***fu, @M******bi, @jiang****zi, @qun*****jia, @pan**tan, @shen**jing, @shi**yang, @lin*xiang, @bei***ren, and other “Big V” accounts have been suspended for hyping the censorship of other accounts, thus seeding illegal discourse that defamed and harmed the national image. 

“Big V” accounts @li****tian and @yuan**xin attacked and mocked Chinese government institutions and systems. Accounts @jie******lüe, @gu*****zhe, and @gu***ge repeatedly posted negative economic news and have been suspended for violating platform rules and regulations. The account @yubeixiaotiejiang has been banned for continuously flooding [Weibo] with harmful foreign information. 

Summary and Warning

A reminder to all creators: in order to avoid fueling irrational suspicion, or even harmful comments, please do not hype the censorship of other accounts. Weibo will continue to provide creators with creative safety tips and content section management tools to help foster safe creating. 

Our delegation to the Paris Olympics earned China’s best-ever showing at an overseas Olympic Games. While we congratulate the athletes, we must also maintain a rational attitude towards stars and reject bashing [athletes and other fans]. We look forward to continued success at future competitions! [Chinese]

The news inspired outrage—and jokes—on Weibo. One asked in jest, “Can we call it ‘twice-cooked censorship’ when an account gets censored for hyping the censorship of accounts suspended for hyping the censorship of other accounts?” (The joke is a reference to “twice-cooked pork,” a popular Sichuan dish.)  Many of the Weibo user reactions compiled by CDT were expressions of dismay: 

野猫羔 ：Fuck! Hyping the censorship of other accounts will also trigger censorship… 😓

Sonic969 ：Hilarious: censored for discussing censorship

刺猬头_Official : You can’t say why they were censored, and you definitely can’t say why you can’t say why.

C0ingwinter ：From now on users will engage in endless self-censorship. 

幻想移动: What are the parameters for deciding if someone is “hyping the censorship of other accounts”?

重生第三次 ：The current speech environment is just terrific. 

武烈山 ：Dude, now it’s “hyping”—they’re always coming up with new words like that. Next they’ll be censoring anyone who “hypes” the “censorship hypers.” [Chinese]

In the comment section of the original Weibo post announcing the suspensions, buried beneath a sea of seemingly astroturfed supportive comments, one Weibo user sarcastically praised free speech in China by quoting past pronouncements from Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokespeople:

Adrian_Zhang_bj: 1.4 billion people all have the right to express their opinions. 

(Top photo: MoFA spokesperson Hua Chunying and caption) “Hua Chunying: ‘There are about 1.4 billion people in China, each with his or her own mind, and each entitled to the freedom to voice his or her views and thoughts online.'” 

(Bottom photo: former MoFA spokesman Zhao Lijian and caption) “Foreign Ministry: ‘In China, there are no speech crimes.'” [Chinese]