Jiang Zemin, Social Media, and How Rumors Threaten the CCP

Jiang is tired of all these rumors!

Readers of this site should already be aware of the wave of rumors that hit Sina Weibo and other Chinese social networking sites suggesting that Jiang Zemin, the country’s former top leader, had died. Several foreign media outlets also reported his death as fact before Xinhua denied it this afternoon.

But regardless of whether Jiang is alive or dead, this incident is only the latest in a line of wild rumors that illustrate how the Chinese government’s insistence on having total control over the media gives way to wild rumors that further undermine the media’s credibility, and with it, the government’s.

For example, let’s look at the rumors about Jiang. These rumors began spreading like wildfire on Weibo several days ago. Assuming that Jiang actually was alive at that time, the government — who was obviously aware of the rumors — could easily have had Xinhua make a brief statement refuting them. Instead, they ordered domestic social media sites to delete posts related to these rumors, and block searches relating to Jiang in even the most tangential way (when I last check, even searching for “river” was blocked on Sina Weibo because the character Jiang means river in addition to being a surname).

Of course, to the average netizen, blocking or deleting something is just evidence that whatever was deleted is actually true. By this morning, Chinese people from all walks of life were convinced Jiang had died because — despite the censorship — that’s what everyone on the internet was saying.

The government now finds itself in a terrible position. Even if the rumors were completely false, as they claim, the tight media control has made people suspicious, and the end result is that regardless of what the government says, no one is going to believe they’re telling the whole truth. My guess is that even if a beaming, bright-eyed Jiang Zemin walked in front of the camera on the CCTV News tomorrow evening, many people would still be convinced that the government had been covering up something.

Covering up

Jiang is just one example. On July 1st, six farmers attempted suicide in Hunan province to protest a local land deal. Eventually, it became clear that all six survived, but for over a day there was no official report, and rumors on Sina Weibo became progressively more dramatic, with many people suggesting that 18 farmers had successfully committed suicide. By the time the truth came out, it didn’t matter. As far as many netizens were concerned, it was just another government cover-up.

EastSouthWestNorth, the indispensable China blog, addressed this same issue before either of these events occurred. Roland Soong, the blog’s curator, who has been posting and translating Chinese news stories at a breakneck pace on the site for years, writes:

A major reason why productivity on this blog has been way down this year is that the Chinese Internet is now full of rumors. For the major breaking stories and scandals, it is now almost certain that at least 9 out of 10 are fabrications or at least contains fabricated elements.

And why not? In the absence of any kind of real transparency, fake information and rumor are just as valuable as actual news. In fact, they’re even more valuable, because by the the time the real news comes out, everyone has been convinced by the rumor and no one believes it. Soong quotes a microblog post from former chief editor of Southern Metropolis Daily Cheng Yizhong:

In a country where freedom of speech is not protected and the news media are oppressed, rumors are in fact the truth that is buried deep inside people’s hearts. Rumors are one way for the masses to express their wishes. Rumors are powerful weapons for the masses to oppose official propaganda and lies. Rumors are not facts, but they are much more real than the facts; rumors do not stand up to scrutiny, but they are more convincing than the truth; rumors are full of holes, but that does not stop the masses from firmly believing them. At this time, rumors no longer stop with the wise people; they can only stop with freedom of speech.