What is it about?
The new leadership of China under Xi Jinping takes anti-corruption as its top priority. Weibo (microblogs) is one of the key online spaces used for what came to be known as the “Weibo anti-corruption” campaign. This puts official authorities as competitors with other users in public opinion formation. We have studied 29 cases of corruption exposed on Sina Weibo and found that the Chinese authorities now dominate public opinion there.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
The Communist Party have always run the mass media in China. The spread of the Internet and social media have given hope that civil society organisations and citizens would have greater freedom of expression and thus help to bring democracy. Our study, conducted immediately after the new leadership came in, indicates a new trend in which the party-state regains its dominance in public communication.
Perspectives
Unlike most previous studies that are concerned about the implications of the Internet for a more open and democratic China, our study includes a large number of cases. They were not selected for their outcome so there is no initial bias of selection. I think our study has provided reliable evidence to answer a question that has drawn divided opinions among people interested in China.
Dr Joyce Y.M. Nip
University of Sydney
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Challenging Official Propaganda? Public Opinion Leaders on Sina Weibo, The China Quarterly, February 2016, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0305741015001654.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
