Tests in December 2005 concluded that for the Chinese edition of MSN Spaces, a combination of automated and manual censorship was enforced; “users were automatically prevented from posting politically sensitive words such as ‘Falun Gong,’ [for example], in the titles of individual blog posts” (41).
If a user tried to save such a post, an error message stating the following would appear: “This item contains forbidden language. Please remove the forbidden language from this item” (41).
Although it was possible to post “forbidden language” in the body of the post, about 48 hours after blogs containing “politically sensitive phrases” were created, the URLs would be redirected and the blogs inaccessible.
These actions had not been taken by Chinese authorities “responsible for filtering and censoring the Internet for Chinese viewers, but by MSN staff at the level of the MSN servers” (41).
Unlike in the United States, there is no “A-list” of influential political bloggers in China; in 2005, bloggers who posted “politically sensitive content” may have to continuously move from one blog host to another, with a new web address (42).
MacKinnon, Rebecca. “Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic discourse in China.” Public Choice 134.1 (2008): 31-46.
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