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submitted 3 weeks ago by lemmee_in@lemm.ee to c/world@lemmy.world

China’s internet regulators have launched a campaign cracking down on puns and homophones, one of the last remaining ways for citizens to safely discuss sensitive subjects without recriminations or censorship.

“For some time, various internet jargons and memes have appeared frequently, leaving people more and more confused,” said an editorial by the Communist party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily

China’s online spaces are strictly monitored and censored. Some sensitive topics and terms are strictly banned, such as references to the Tiananmen massacre, or criticism of President Xi Jinping. Insulting individuals or China generally is also frowned upon.

In response, users have adapted, using funny or obscure references and in-jokes to get around the censorship. Many rely on homophones, using phrases that sound very similar in Mandarin, but were written with different Chinese characters, such as the word for “paratrooper” (sǎn bīng) instead of “idiot” (shǎ bī).

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[-] ravhall@discuss.online 64 points 3 weeks ago

Crickets from the ML crowd

[-] GuyDudeman@lemmy.world 33 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

They see nothing wrong with this because “it’s necessary in the short term”.

You know, like state capitalism!

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 32 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

https://lemm.ee/post/45588849

Hopefully you can follow that link. Ml mods removed the article lmao.

Edit. Holy shit, they banned me from .ml all together for posting the article! It wasn't even lemmygrad ml, it was just the ml world news comm. Lmao.

The reason was "rule 1", which is:

Please only post links to actual news sources, no tabloid sites, etc.

That's hilarious

[-] Hubi@feddit.org 22 points 3 weeks ago

Of course, The Guardian - the famous tabloid without any actual news lol

[-] barsquid@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

I think you're supposed to accept only articles from the Grayzone, and those without any fact checking whatsoever.

[-] ravhall@discuss.online 8 points 3 weeks ago

Basically anything out of an ML mouth I distrust. If they’re trying to promote china and destroy the west, they’re doing a really shitty job at it.

[-] boredtortoise@lemm.ee 5 points 3 weeks ago

You can bet that their mascot users post links from the same source

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yup. There are four articles from the guardian on that comms front page right now.

[-] barsquid@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago

"This is western propaganda, actually everyone can write what they like. Furthermore censorship is necessary to keep capitalist lies out of the country, so being banned from criticizing the government is a good thing."

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 weeks ago

Took me a moment to realize you weren't talking about Machine Learning

[-] ravhall@discuss.online 5 points 3 weeks ago

Haha, that would make the sentence very confusing!

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago

The wrongthink list just keeps growing and growing

I hope these poor souls learn to use TOR and a VPN

[-] ravhall@discuss.online 38 points 3 weeks ago

It’s more complicated than that. Your isp knows when you use a vpn. Your isp sometimes knows when you use tor. That’s why end to end encryption is so important. But in china, these activities are banned. So connecting to the wrong vpn could get them in trouble.

I hope these poor souls get a new damned government.

[-] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

It's ironic that they need to line the CCP against a wall.

While having a conveniently sized wall right there.

[-] ravhall@discuss.online 6 points 3 weeks ago

They only use that wall to catch stray bullets when executing Muslims.

[-] hddsx@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 weeks ago

Clearly you have never been to China. It can take extra steps to VPN

[-] YeetPics@mander.xyz 11 points 3 weeks ago

China could just make explosive collars that read minds and when the thought criminals have that thought that crosses the line; boom.

No more thought crime after the first few weeks AND a boost to employment for a month or two as the janitorial service backup with work.

You're welcome, China.

[-] Exec@pawb.social 8 points 3 weeks ago

Now that's an old thumbnail picture. Android 4.x on an old-style LG phone, along with the "green blocks" design play store (just after the android market rebrand)

[-] GuyDudeman@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I’m not an android guy. How old?

Android 4 was the reunification of Android 2 for phones and Android 3 for tablets. I think it coincided with the launch of the original Nexus 7 and Google Assistant, and I think I was installing third-party Android 4 builds on one of the first US phones with 4G LTE.

[-] Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

Android 4 released in 2011

[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Likely the article author (or editor) simple searched their stock photography subscription with the keywords "chinese text on smart phone" and went with the first result.

[-] ogmios@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 weeks ago

Imagine demanding that the world make sense to you.

[-] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's not really an accurate translation of 傻屄 (shǎbī), it's a very vulgar way to say "stupid cunt", and you'd usually substitute the second character for, e.g., 比/逼 or even an actual "B" because the character itself is considered offensive (meaning components are 尸 "body" + 穴 "hole/cavity", worsened by the fact 尸 is actually the "corpse" radical).

[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Andy Zaltzman will be devastated.

https://www.thebuglepodcast.com/

[-] YaDownWitCPP@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Move along, nothing to see here.

this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
141 points (97.3% liked)

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