TheQuartering [4/23/2021]
Well, it appears at least with some things, China is pretty based.
China’s feminist movement has been facing another wave of crackdowns, with dozens of social media accounts run by feminist activists abruptly shut down in recent weeks.
The accounts have been removed from the popular micro-blogging site Weibo, as well as the online platform Douban, which claim the suspended accounts contain “extreme and ideological content.”
It all began with a post shared by prominent Chinese feminist activist Xiao Meili on Weibo in March. In the post, Xiao recounted how she tried to stop a customer from smoking inside a hotpot shop, but the man became agitated and threw a cup of hot liquid at her and her friends.
She uploaded the videos and wrote about the incident. While she reached a private settlement with the customer, she began to receive threatening messages on Weibo, with many including personal attacks.
She was even accused of being supportive of “Hong Kong independence,” which she blatantly denied. However, Weibo still decided to remove her account and online channel.
Following the removal of Xiao’s account, several Chinese feminists came to her defence on Weibo, and soon, their accounts were also removed from the social media platform.
On April 13, activist Liang Xiaowen issued a public statement, detailing how she has received hundreds of messages on Weibo that contain personal “vicious and anti-women” attacks.
“While I didn’t post any content that violated Weibo’s community rules, my account was removed after other users harassed and reported my account,” Liang wrote in the public statement.
Liang revealed she has since filed a civil lawsuit against Weibo, demanding the company restore her account on the platform.
“More than 20 feminists’ Weibo accounts have been removed and the number keeps growing,” she wrote in an open letter.
“Douban has also shut down several feminist groups. The online space that Chinese women worked hard to create has been ruthlessly shut down.”
In a statement, Weibo claimed the accounts of Liang Xiaowen and other Chinese feminists were removed after the platform received complaints from users regarding posts containing “illegal and harmful information.”