China’s internet regulators have launched a campaign cracking down on puns and homophones, one of the last remaining ways for citizens to safely discuss sensitive subjects without recriminations or censorship.

“For some time, various internet jargons and memes have appeared frequently, leaving people more and more confused,” said an editorial by the Communist party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily

China’s online spaces are strictly monitored and censored. Some sensitive topics and terms are strictly banned, such as references to the Tiananmen massacre, or criticism of President Xi Jinping. Insulting individuals or China generally is also frowned upon.

In response, users have adapted, using funny or obscure references and in-jokes to get around the censorship. Many rely on homophones, using phrases that sound very similar in Mandarin, but were written with different Chinese characters, such as the word for “paratrooper” (sǎn bīng) instead of “idiot” (shǎ bī).

    • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      https://lemm.ee/post/45588849

      Hopefully you can follow that link. Ml mods removed the article lmao.

      Edit. Holy shit, they banned me from .ml all together for posting the article! It wasn’t even lemmygrad ml, it was just the ml world news comm. Lmao.

      The reason was “rule 1”, which is:

      Please only post links to actual news sources, no tabloid sites, etc.

      That’s hilarious

      • Hubi@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        Of course, The Guardian - the famous tabloid without any actual news lol

        • barsquid@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I think you’re supposed to accept only articles from the Grayzone, and those without any fact checking whatsoever.

      • ravhall
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        2 months ago

        Basically anything out of an ML mouth I distrust. If they’re trying to promote china and destroy the west, they’re doing a really shitty job at it.

        • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          Yup. There are four articles from the guardian on that comms front page right now.

    • Guy Dudeman@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      They see nothing wrong with this because “it’s necessary in the short term”.

      You know, like state capitalism!

    • barsquid@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      “This is western propaganda, actually everyone can write what they like. Furthermore censorship is necessary to keep capitalist lies out of the country, so being banned from criticizing the government is a good thing.”

      • ravhall
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        2 months ago

        Haha, that would make the sentence very confusing!