China Cites “Insufficient Censorship” In Threat To Shut Down Sina Weibo

A little over a month after Chinese authorities moved to crack down on discussion of ‘Under The Dome,’ the viral documentary which highlighted China’s pollution problem, and less than a week after Turkeybanned social media after photos depicting now deceased prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz with a gun to his head showed up on Facebook and Twitter, free speech is yet again under attack in emerging markets as Beijing has reportedly threatened to shut down Sina Weibo which China’s internet czar claims is disseminating false information, providing a platform for terrorists, questioning the ‘facts,’ not exercising enough censorship, and, much like the townsfolk of colonial era Salem, ‘propagating heresy’.
Here’s WSJ with more:
The regulator’s statement said since the start of the year, 6,038 complaints against Sina were made, including 1,227 in just the first eight days of this month alone, which was more than any other major website had received. Complaints centered on the spreading of rumors, information related to violent terrorism, obscenity, pornography, fraud, or the propagating of heresy, the statement said. In China, heresy generally refers to religious groups that aren’t approved by Beijing, such as the Falun Gong.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on 04/12/2015.