1120 Accounts Criticizing COVID-19 Policies and Experts
China's social networking service (SNS) Weibo has temporarily or permanently suspended around 1,000 accounts that criticized the country's COVID-19 policies, sparking controversy domestically.
Recently, Weibo announced in a statement that after reviewing approximately 13,000 posts attacking and criticizing COVID-19 experts and scholars, it suspended 1,120 accounts either temporarily or permanently.
Weibo stated, "Many experts, scholars, and internet users are actively utilizing verified information and their professional knowledge to help fight the pandemic," adding, "Insulting or personally attacking those with differing opinions is unacceptable and will be dealt with strictly."
However, Weibo did not explain which specific expressions violated its regulations.
Account with 12 Million Followers Also Suspended
Patients and their guardians are waiting in the lobby of the emergency ward at a hospital in Beijing, China. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]
As a result of this action, the account of Liu Chun, vice chairman of Phoenix New Media with 12 million followers, was also suspended. Last month on the 7th, when a sudden easing of pandemic controls by Chinese authorities caused a shortage of medicines, he pointed out, "Why is there a shortage of antipyretics? If adjustments had been made in advance, such issues would not have occurred given China's production and logistics capabilities."
In response, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 7th that "China's sudden easing of pandemic controls received strong criticism from netizens," and "especially, experts who regularly appear in state media were criticized for trying to maintain a similar tone in line with the authorities' policy changes."
Regarding this, Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert team at China's National Health Commission (NHC) and a professor at Tsinghua University, said in April last year, "China must continue to uphold the zero-COVID policy due to low vaccination rates among the elderly and insufficient medical resources," adding, "(There is) no alternative to zero-COVID. Otherwise, we must accept disaster."
However, after the authorities eased pandemic controls, he stated last month that "China will improve and adjust measures such as pandemic control and medical responses according to the emergence of new variants."
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