
Chinese censors go low-tech to clamp down on Twitter - gscott
https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Chinese-censors-go-low-tech-to-clamp-down-on-13508441.php
======
maxander
> [...] had hacked into his Twitter account - @hesuoge - and [...]

> [...] said the engineer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of
> landing in deeper trouble with authorities.

Uh, what?

Edit: Even worse, it's the Washington Post:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-
ce...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-censors-go-
old-school-to-clamp-down-on-twitter-a-knock-on-the-
door/2019/01/04/1bd462e4-f331-11e8-9240-e8028a62c722_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b460528a28a4)
.

I'm missing something regarding twitter handles and anonymity, right?

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mc32
Obviously if the authorities visited “his house” they know who he is and where
he lives. Be that as it may, he may not want to further broadcast who he is.

~~~
maxander
Such as broadcasting his twitter handle, like they did right there?

~~~
mc32
Ah I see your point. The anonymity desired might have been naive in asking not
to publish his real name. He might have bern okay with handle—to give the news
organs the benefit of doubt.

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siscia
I am from Europe and I am seeing 451 (the article is not available in my
region) is this normal?

Italy to be specific.

~~~
spullara
Probably GDPR related. Many publishing sites aren't willing to bother for the
EU.

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detcader
Like what UK police did to Graham Lineham?

[https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/oct/07/graham-
lineh...](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/oct/07/graham-linehan-
police-warning-complaint-by-stephanie-hayden-transgender-activist-twitter)

~~~
andybak
How is that even slightly related?

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andybak
How ironic:

451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons

Sorry, this content is not available in your region.

~~~
konschubert
GDPR. Welcome to the balkanization of the internet.

~~~
dane-pgp
By that logic, Google Safe Browsing had already balkanized the internet. You
may be right, though.

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StreamBright
Similar thing happened in Netherlands

[https://www.dw.com/en/online-anti-refugee-posts-lead-to-
offl...](https://www.dw.com/en/online-anti-refugee-posts-lead-to-offline-
visits-by-dutch-police/a-19005888)

~~~
mc32
I wouldn’t categorize it as similar. Now, ceratainly it has a chilling effect,
but they’re not asking the person to delete their tweets, but rather be
careful not to “incite” as they might attribute violence to the tweeter. It
has a chilling effect on free speech, but on the other hand the posts are not
getting removed.

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LeoPanthera
Archive for those in Europe:
[http://archive.vn/YjME8](http://archive.vn/YjME8)

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ineedasername
They didn't really go low tech though. Sure the guy got a knock on the door,
but that didn't work. So the authorities went high tech, hacked his account
and deleted everything.

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jeremysalwen
Can someone translate 超级低俗屠夫 and the context? I don't think it means "Super
low-profile butcher".

~~~
LeoPanthera
It's the nickname of this guy:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Gan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Gan)

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MHordecki
Looks like this website blocks access from Europe, presumably due to GDPR.

