Advertisement
Censorship in China
TechPolicy

Popular science blogs disappear from WeChat, Weibo and Bilibili in Beijing’s latest internet content crackdown

  • Science blogs Elephant Magazine and PaperClip disappeared from China’s biggest social media platforms on Wednesday despite mostly apolitical content
  • The accounts have previously been the subject of controversy, but the latest bans remain a mystery as Beijing tightens oversight of online content

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
2
Icons of the WeChat and Weibo apps seen on a smartphone in this file photo. Media organisations that publish straight to social media have been the target of tightening internet content restrictions from Beijing. Photo: Reuters
Xinmei Shen
Two popular science blogs in China were censored across social media platforms WeChat, Weibo and video-streaming site Bilibili, a surprising turn in Beijing’s escalating crackdown on internet content.

Elephant Magazine and its affiliated PaperClip, two popular outlets that publish scientific content on Chinese social media platforms, were unavailable for users on Wednesday. No Chinese authorities have commented on the disappearance of the accounts, and it remains unclear what triggered the ban or whether it is permanent.

The ban was also a mystery to Elephant Magazine, which has sought a reason for the ban, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

03:34

Inside a Chinese internet censorship centre

Inside a Chinese internet censorship centre

The shutdowns came as a surprise for many readers, as the blogs have steered clear of political topics in recent years, maintaining a distance from controversial issues since Elephant Magazine was briefly shut down several years ago.

This has allowed Elephant Magazine to grow its readership to more than a million people, according to data from New Rank, which tracks engagement data for Chinese content producers. Last week, its articles had more than 350,000 views on Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, China’s largest social media platform.

Engagement numbers for PaperClip, which was founded in 2017 by a former Elephant Magazine video producer, are not available from New Rank.

Without offering specifics, Global Times, a tabloid newspaper run by Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, reported that the two blogs were targeted “under suspicion of spreading unverified information and smearing the efforts of the Chinese government”.

Advertisement