MANILA, Philippines – Speaking your mind out online is normally considered to be a common occurrence, but in China, where censorship and spin sometimes go hand in hand, rare is the discussion behind censorship practices.

Following the controversy of censorship at the Southern Weekly newspaper, a controversy in which bloggers backed the journalists who had their writings turned into propaganda, a number of users at Chinese microblogging site Weibo were also railing at the service’s web managers. These web managers were receiving criticism and pressure not only from the users of Weibo, but also from the government. 

One web manager from Weibo, however, seemed to have taken a risk as a result of the increased pressure. The manager hired by Weibo, going by the account name @Geniune_Yu_Yang, posted an explanation of the practices Weibo engages in to allow people to speak of displeasure freely without the service or its users catching the ire of the government. 

In a discussion and translation by Oiwan Lam of Global Voices Online, it is seen that there is a sort of uneasy compromise made to allow users to speak freely relative to the environment they’re in, and expresses some frustration as Weibo’s method of having human censors arguably gives the microblog users more freedom.

The Washington Post’s report notes how some of the freedoms Weibo users get, even temporarily, are hard-fought  victories. With regard to the Southern Weekly fiasco, Weibo’s censors “first resisted government calls for suppressing the Southern Weekly story.” 

The post by @Genuine_Yu_Yang explains, “At its very early stages, we were under a lot of pressure. We tried to resist and let the messages spread. This is our accomplishment already.”

The Weibo post has since been deleted, though you can read the translation and annotations from Global Voices Online below. – Rappler.com 

Last night in [Sina] Weibo, apart from the Propaganda Department, my work unit was the second most popular target of netizens’ verbal attack. The screen was full of the terrifying note: “The micro-blog has been deleted.” The platform looked like a sinking ship with thousands of holes on it. My boss, Lao Shen’s [Sina] Weibo’s page is full of cursing. In particular, after the Southern Weekly incident had been reported by Netease [a popular web portal] extensively yesterday, attacks on Sina’s cowardice and its role as the running dog [of the Propaganda Department] reached a climax. I was so frustrated and finally fought with a famous online script-writer. After I cooled down, I reflected upon the whole thing, feeling the urge to write a long micro-blog to explain the situation in detail.

Very often, you can’t see the truth when you just see the phenomena and when you are overwhelmed with anger.

1. If we don’t delete your post, the alternative is that your account will be banned. This platform belongs to the public. It has changed our life and can exercise influence on the society and government through the spread of opinion. On the one hand, we have millions of netizens, on the other hand, we have, not Sina [Weibo, but the government and the authorities]. Since the day [around the end of March 2012] when Sina Weibo suspended its comments function for three days, a special group of people have the authority to decide on the criteria for giving out alert signals, and can make [Sina] Weibo go “game-over” as simply as treading on some ants without giving a damn about people’s needs. When they issue urgent orders (like the Emperor’s 18 golden orders in ancient time), you have to execute them.

We need [Sina] Weibo to deliver voices. But a hand is manipulating behind us. Someone is doomed to be sacrifice in this game. We live in a country full of special and sensitive barriers and we have to operate within a set of rules.

2. With such background, we have the second thesis: The strategy on deletion and distribution. Please think about this: You guys keep posting messages like machines, and the micro-blog secretaries keep deleting them. If we don’t delete messages one by one and suspend accounts, we could have saved more time and energy. We could have served better as the running dog. You can see the messages before they are deleted, right? You still have your account functioning, right? You are all experienced netizens, you know that the technology allows us to delete messages in a second. Please think carefully on this.

3. In some cases, other platforms have more space than Sina. Sina is the biggest tree and everyone is using the platform. “Classmate Xuan” [, nickname for the Propaganda Department,] will watch every single act. Once the leaves of the tree move, the bell rings. The way we receive orders is similar to the way the Catholic Father in the movie Cinema Paradiso rings his hand bell whenever there is a kissing scene. We have to take orders whenever we hear the ringing bell.

Before this incident occurred, and at its very early stages, we were under a lot of pressure. We tried to resist and let the messages spread. This is our accomplishment already. Our official account @Sina_Media reported on the suspension of the Southern Weekly instantly, and the news was retweeted by @headline_news, which was again retweeted again 30,000 times in 10 mins. Then we got the order from “Classmate Xuan” and we had to delete it. Fortunately, the message had been distributed. A friend from Penguin website left a warm message in my microblog: This is a battle. Sina [Weibo] is a human flesh shield. It is a courageous act.

4. Expectedly, my bosses have to go through tea session [euphemism for police interview] again. I have to stop here.