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Liu Xiaobo death: China media quiet amid social media tributes | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has prompted tributes around the world, but in mainland China, there has been no coverage in Chinese. | |
On social media, users have noticed attempts from the government censors to mute reaction online. | |
Thousands of users are aware of his death, however, and have found creative ways to post tributes. | Thousands of users are aware of his death, however, and have found creative ways to post tributes. |
'Results cannot be displayed' | 'Results cannot be displayed' |
Mr Liu was China's most influential dissident and his death has made headlines globally. | |
But coverage on mainland China was muted - with only a few short reports in English. | |
Xinhua and CCTV news issued brief statements on their English sites stating that Liu Xiaobo, "convicted of subversion of state power", had died. | |
Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times said on its English edition that Mr Liu was "a victim led astray" by the West. | |
"The Chinese side has been focusing on Liu's treatment, but some Western forces are always attempting to steer the issue in a political direction, hyping the treatment as a "human rights" issue," it wrote. | |
Chinese-language sites appear to have steered clear of reporting the story altogether - a news search of "Liu Xiaobo" on leading Chinese search engine Baidu brings up no domestic press mentions of Mr Liu since February. | |
On social media, it is very much the same story. A search on the popular Sina Weibo microblog brings up a message saying "according to relevant laws and policies, results for 'Liu Xiaobo' cannot be displayed". | On social media, it is very much the same story. A search on the popular Sina Weibo microblog brings up a message saying "according to relevant laws and policies, results for 'Liu Xiaobo' cannot be displayed". |
'Even RIP is being deleted' | 'Even RIP is being deleted' |
Many apparently innocuous comments from influential users appear to have been deleted from Sina Weibo. | Many apparently innocuous comments from influential users appear to have been deleted from Sina Weibo. |
Xu Xin - a user with 31 million followers - posted a few candle emojis, which have been removed. | Xu Xin - a user with 31 million followers - posted a few candle emojis, which have been removed. |
People often use candle emojis on Weibo to commemorate someone who has died. | People often use candle emojis on Weibo to commemorate someone who has died. |
'TobyandElias' wrote: "Weibo is really busy tonight - things are constantly being deleted. Even R...I...P is being deleted" | 'TobyandElias' wrote: "Weibo is really busy tonight - things are constantly being deleted. Even R...I...P is being deleted" |
'Free at last' | 'Free at last' |
Weibo users have used creative ways to show their condolences and bypass the censors. | Weibo users have used creative ways to show their condolences and bypass the censors. |
Some have posted screengrabs of image tributes that they have seen on Twitter and Instagram, platforms which are blocked in mainland China. | Some have posted screengrabs of image tributes that they have seen on Twitter and Instagram, platforms which are blocked in mainland China. |
Some also post links to songs as tributes. 'AlwaysABadCard' links to the lyrics page of a song called "No one knows where we will go tomorrow". It describes being "locked in a cage" and hoping "that tomorrow will be better". | Some also post links to songs as tributes. 'AlwaysABadCard' links to the lyrics page of a song called "No one knows where we will go tomorrow". It describes being "locked in a cage" and hoping "that tomorrow will be better". |
As censors often scrape for simplified Chinese words, 'urKARINA' uses traditional characters to write her message instead. "Thank you for your courage. You are free at last," she says. | As censors often scrape for simplified Chinese words, 'urKARINA' uses traditional characters to write her message instead. "Thank you for your courage. You are free at last," she says. |
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitterand Facebook. | BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitterand Facebook. |