Winter Olympics: China restricts activists’ social media ahead of Beijing Games

Prominent rights activists have been detained in recent weeks and others report having their WeChat accounts closed or curbed in December and January

IOC says it ‘has neither the mandate nor the capability to change the laws or the political system of a sovereign country’ and must remain neutral on politics

Reading Time:3 minutes

The WeChat app is ubiquitous in China and used in everyday life. But a crackdown on dissent has caused activists to have access to the app restricted or cut off. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:31pm, 26 Jan 2022Updated: 4:49pm, 26 Jan 2022

Human rights activists and some academics in China have had their WeChat messaging app accounts restricted in recent weeks, multiple people affected said, as Beijing cracks down on dissent before the Beijing Winter Olympics.

China hopes to make next week’s Games a soft power triumph, although the lead-up has seen some Western powers launch a diplomatic boycott over Beijing’s rights record and cybersecurity firms warn athletes of digital surveillance risks.

For China’s ever-dwindling community of activists, the imminent arrival of the world’s best athletes has triggered a familiar clampdown.

02:34

Australia, Britain, Canada join US diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights

Eight individuals have told of their WeChat accounts being restricted in some form since early December, with some unable to use their accounts entirely and forced to re-register.

The restrictions came as authorities detained two prominent human rights activists, lawyer Xie Yang and writer Yang Maodong, while a third rights lawyer missing since early December is believed by relatives to be in secret detention.

“This storm of shuttering WeChat accounts is too strong and unprecedented,” said veteran journalist Gao Yu, whose account had features such as group chat messaging permanently disabled for the first time on December 20.

China routinely suppresses the social media accounts and physical movements of dissidents during politically sensitive periods such as Communist Party gatherings in Beijing or key anniversaries such as the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.