Using twitter for Zhao Ziyang's memoires - Jeremy Goldkorn

Zhao, together with Wen Jiabao via Wikipedia

China's internet users might have overstepped the vague line of what is permitted on the internet, by using twitter and its Chinese equivalents to exchange a banned book, says internet guru Jeremy Goldkorn today in Forbes.

"The Internet is currently rather creaky here, with all the usual filtering tools turned up to top level, but Chinese netizens were openly trading the PDF (digital edition) of the banned Zhao Ziyang's memoirs through Twitter and its Chinese clones until yesterday, when Twitter was blocked," said Jeremy Goldkorn, publisher and editor of Danwei Media.

While the authority of the internet censors is challenged very often, reviving the memory of disposed party secretary Zhao Ziyang was indeed a daring step. China's censor have been rather successful in removing the erstwhile very popular party leader from its history books and collective memory over the past two decades. Zhao opposed the usage of violence against the demonstrating students in Beijing in 1989.

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Jeremy Goldkorn is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in hearing his views, do get in touch.  

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

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