¡°To lose speech is to lose power"

[Randy W]

. . . in the WSJ

 

People’s Daily Chief Warns of ‘Historic Mistake’ if China Loses Grip on New Media

 

 

“To lose speech is to lose power,” he wrote — apparently without irony — about the challenge facing state media.

It isn’t exactly a new message: China has been “perfecting” its “Internet controls” for years. But it comes amid renewed crackdowns on social media accounts after a high profile loyalty tour by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the three central Communist Party-controlled media outlets in February.

Mr. Xi paid particular attention to the news outlets’ online operations and called on official news media to “reflect the Party’s will and views.” Chinese social media services are generally more freewheeling than traditional media, but have been held to gradually stricter censorship.

He acknowledged that China’s stodgy state media does not always excel at generating viral online content, something he said needed to change with the help of partnerships between traditional and new media outlets.

“Only when new mainstream media develop with continually growing user numbers, market share and influence, can we effectively seize the frontline of online public opinion,” he wrote.

 

 

[Greg.D.]

No internet market of ideas there .....

[Dennis143]

The title is one of the reasons I won't return again to China with my wife.

 

I am powerless without the ability to speak their language.