Beyond merely staying within the boundaries of government-sanctioned speech, does Ran make the case [zh] that microblogs also serve to curate an alternate version of what China looks like today, or do the many examples linked to above suggest that there isn't much malfeasance which can now take place without the microbloggers finding out?
As portal website Sina pursues its ‘eyeball economy’ strategy, resorting to whatever means necessary to create a ruckus, the formula it perfected through its blog service of manufacturing gossip news by recruiting chatty celebrities—the high click rates and numbers of participants making Sina seemingly “unstoppable”—has now been carried over to microblogs where it has reached unprecedented heights in creating the delusion of social harmony and bliss.
They took a heap of tabloid celebrities they approve of, “mouthpieces” from state monopoly media, and a small number of officials they actually can't stand, and invited them all to join up with the prestige of VIP status; at Weibo management's doing, their follower counts blasted skyward, playing to these people's sense of vanity, establishing Sina Weibo as a popular “new media” at the same time that it shamelessly vaunted its own ability to completely pirate off Twitter.
Of course this isn't to say that Sina is totally lacking in “innovation” compared to Twitter (which of course also isn't to say that Sina Weibo is completely lacking in regard to disseminating truth); Sina Weibo's “innovation” is, on one hand, in introducing large amounts of tabloid information and largely preserving information pandering to officials, while on the other hand, through the use of a strict keyword filtering system and censorship boards utilizing human wave battleship tactics, on standby 24 hours a day serving only to block and delete content that doesn't suit either their own or the official palate, cooperating with the government in creating an illusory kingdom with “the emperor's new clothes”. Not content just in blocking or deleting the majority of any voices truly critical of the government, even going so far as to ban IP addresses of some Weibo users.
There is the occasional voice that does get through, like Xiao Han on his Weibo, which is now on its umpteenth stage of “reincarnation”. In brief, Sina Weibo's stringent censorship system leaves it running wrapped firmly in a “harmonious” climate.
And it's against this sort of a backdrop that Sina Weibo ceremoniously invited their spiritual and technical alter ego, the man known as the father of the Great Firewall of China—in fact he ought to be referred to as the father of China's Internet Prison, borrowing from Jie Sen's “e-Prison”, because a neutral term like “firewall” just doesn't quite describe the extent of the evil he has enabled—Fang Binxing, to come be a VIP user, and in doing so draw greater numbers to come worship this “famous” person who leaves the Chinese people spiritually deprived and their information castrated.
But, it seems Sina Weibo and Fang Binxing himself have been betrayed by their own skill when it comes to shielding the truth such that they figure that even the bones of Chinese people are inherently worthless, and people are only apt to function when enslaved. And not just that, but they even thought that not only are people not opposed to people like Fang Binxing shielding the truth and filtering out much information which is in their own interest, but that they would even thank him for doing it so well, for having us truly live in such a rarely seen “gilded age“, in a “harmonious society” which has no equal on this earth.
Fortunately, a growing number of the Chinese public are no longer eating up the Communist Party's fantastic propaganda, and are becoming increasingly aware of the circumstances which so deeply enslave them. Today, with the conflicts of interest and values between officials and citizens increasingly severe, inviting Fang Binxing to Weibo as something to “show off” was definitely a celebrity effect failure for Sina.
Fang Binxing opened a Weibo account at Sina's behest, and within the first two hours while he did of course gain a few fans, he got much more in the way of endless rabid curses. A few people, acting like rational neat freaks, saw all this vituperative as a sign of online bullying, and ran off like they'd come across a pair of dirty socks. Personally, I don't approve of indiscriminate abuse, but with the powers that be and the government making up their own rules, and with members of the public left with no way to keep them in check, it goes without saying that any abuse bears a certain amount of legitimacy. Put another way, with someone like Fang Binxing, who knows well that he's doing evil, naturally he also understands that were he ever to leave the system, that sooner or later there would be a price to pay.
With Fang Binxing having proposed real-name registration for the Internet and a whitelist for mobile phones, and with his “grand achievements” as the father of China's Internet prison, he has done great harm to the public's right to know and many other similar rights, which, no matter how you look at them, are not excessive. According to reports from Radio Free Asia, Singpore's United Morning Paper and Deutsche Welle, within two hours of Fang Binxing opening his Weibo account, he encountered everything from vituperative to questioning, derision and ridicule to the point of being under “siege”, with much of this including netizens’ resentment over Fang Binxing's role in assisting the government do harm to public interests.
Some have speculated that the rabid abuse directed at Fang Binxing following his opening of a Weibo account is an incident symbolic of netizens’ pursuit of freedom of information. However in the way I see it, what's most important in this is that is shows those accessory to ‘doing evil’ that their own evil actions will be criticized and questioned by their victims, and they cursed out; and that in the future, when called upon by the government to do evil, they best think it over, lest who will be able to guarantee they themselves won't be put on trial?
Those doing the most evil, those with the most bodyguards around them, screaming “serve the people” day in and out, are actually the people most afraid of the public. With Fang Binxing able to do as much evil as he pleases, who's to say that he won't keep getting promoted to the point where he too can have as many bodyguards and escorts as he pleases? I don't approve of making violent threats against Fang Binxing, but as the father of China's Internet prison, he has done a great amount of harm to many of China's netizens. This is an irrefutable fact. The damage has been done, but to think that you can completely escape any punishment you have coming is, I'm afraid, not that easy. In fact, it's just a matter of time.