Limitations of Chinese Social Media Censorship and Their Relationships with Government Policies

Abstract

In an increasingly anxious global context, the Chinese Government is putting more pressure on media censorship because of the Ideological dichotomy and political disputes. Social media, as a more influential platform than conventional media, make serval changes to new policies made by the Chinese Government. The first part of the essay investigates two typical examples of these social media to conclude the limitations of censorship, this includes 1. The Community Specification Contains Many Ambiguous Statements, 2. No Banning Details Given, 3. Differentiated Censorship Intensity, and 4. Unwritten Rules Besides Community Specification. These limitations in social media censorship are generated by the influence of government policies. The second part explains the factors that cause social media companies to choose to sacrifice user experiences to fit into regulations under the pressure. In addition, the third part evaluates the harm of these limitations and censorship trends, also the possibility of future problem-solving. Overall, the essay focuses on the relations between policies and platform regulation, emphasizing the impact of government involvement.