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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    8 days 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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      8 days ago

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

      • barsquid@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

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

    • ravhall@discuss.online
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      8 days 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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        8 days ago

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