On China’s internet, censorship has made it hard to talk openly about Liu. Search terms like “Liu Xiaobo” and “Liu Xia” (Liu’s wife) don’t work on Weibo, which has over 300 million users. Also blocked is “I have no enemies,” a famous statement Liu made in late 2009.

The censorship effort was in full force last night after Liu’s death. On Weibo some managed to express mourning using the phrase “Mr. Liu” (in Chinese), but that was soon blocked as a search term, too, and posts with it were deleted. A search attempt brought: “The result was not displayed, according to related laws and policies.” Ten posts with the phrase spotted by Quartz last night were taken down. One described Liu as a hero who had fought for the people.

A deleted Weibo post about Liu Xiaobo on July 13, which said Liu was a hero that had fought for the people.
A deleted Weibo post about Liu Xiaobo on July 13, which said Liu was a hero who had fought for the people.
Image: Weibo

Since last night, Weibo has also indicated that creating a post with a candle emoji or “RIP”—even if Liu isn’t mentioned—is a “violation of laws and regulations.”

A Weibo post contained candles stickers and "RIP" made on July 13 was deleted around 30 minutes later for violating "laws and regulations."
This Weibo post containing candles and “RIP” was made on July 13 but deleted about 30 minutes later for violating “laws and regulations.”
Image: Quartz

Other keywords translating to “compassion release,” “late-stage liver cancer,” “Liaoning prison,” and “an empty chair” are among the only still available (so far) for news about Liu. “Empty chair” refers to Liu’s absence at the 2010 Nobel Prize award ceremony.

Weibo did not reply to Quartz’s request for comments.

It’s possible, of course, that China’s censors have missed some other search terms being used to talk about Liu. But if so, they are no doubt looking for them.

 

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