The world is watching, especially in Asia where the same events could potentially happen. The Egypt crisis happened so quickly with news coming from various media platform: Twitter, Facebook, Renren, news media and even blogs. The infographic below will provide you with a neat summary on the major events in Egypt. The question is: Could China suffer from the same crisis too?
Although news about Egypt is censored to prevent a similar uproar, it is unlikely that the same events would happen in China. A survey conducted by Edelman showed that 88 percent of Chinese citizens trust the government, up by 14 percent from last year. However, comments from our previous post were negative about this finding.
Despite the censorship, Sina Weibo users found ways to keep Egypt related news and discussions ongoing. Instead of ‘Egypt’, many switched to ‘#Egypt” to beat the firewall. Large Chinese news sites like People’s Daily and Xinhua mainly triggered the discussions. But of course, the news eliminated any possible negative opinions on the Chinese government.
“The official Chinese media is reporting the Egypt events — it’s no longer possible for Xinhua and other official media to remain credible if they hide international news that people can learn from the Internet,” Susan L. Shirk, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, told the NYT. “But they reduce the risk that some Chinese might want to emulate them by describing them as ‘anti-government riots.'”
Discussions were also found on Chinese social networking sites like Kaixin and Renren. My Chinese national friends are telling me how Internet censorship is changing in the country. This Egypt crisis has highlighted that. The Chinese government would usually go a layer deeper to ensure discussions are totally prohibited. However, as the Internet grows larger, it seems that the firewall isn’t able to keep pace. Or rather, the Chinese government had gone easy just this time. It is joy to the Chinese Internet community as these loopholes gave citizens a voice. Despite the mild censorship, the Chinese remained cautious about their words on the Internet.
“We enjoy the Egypt-related discussions because it makes us feel connected with the world. But we’re still careful about what we say on the Internet,” an anonymous Chinese netizen told Penn Olson.
[Infographic via Takepart]
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