China targets LGBT student organisations on social media in new wave of repression
- Several high-profile Chinese LGBT student organisations found their WeChat accounts had been abruptly closed down overnight
- China’s government has become increasingly intolerant and homophobic towards LGBT people in recent years
The accounts included those from top universities such as the Sex-Gender Study Community of Renmin University, Peking University ColorsWorld and the Shanghai-based Fudan University Zhihe Society.
The account of an off-campus organisation, the Guangzhou-based Gay and Lesbian Campus Association in China (GLCAC), which cooperates with universities in the area, was also banned.
The pages of these accounts on WeChat now show a message saying: “According to internet regulations, we have screened all content and suspended this account”. The names of the accounts have been changed to “Unnamed”.
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Some targeted organisations issued public statements addressing the forced closure. Wudaokou Purple, the student LGBT association from Tsinghua University, said the closure was surprising and swift, and it had not had time to establish a new platform yet.
