Interesting Facts About China

Published on February 24, 2020 By Mathew Cohen

Internet Censorship

With over one billion users each, social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have earned popularity across the globe. This excludes China, however, where these platforms are banned due to the government’s censorship laws. So, what are people using instead?

In place of WhatsApp, Chinese citizens are using We Chat; a messaging app that is also used for online shopping and gaming. Twitter, which was blocked in 2009 due to enabling the planning of a political protest, has been replaced by Weibo. As for YouTube, this video-sharing site is also banned in China. Instead, Chinese people have access to Youku, a substitute site which is monitored by the Chinese government. As is the case with all of these platforms, criticism of the government is prohibited.