Today marks the anniversary of the Chinese government’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. But try searching for information about the day in a Chinese search engine or Weibo and you’ll come up short.
The Chinese government has blocked results that acknowledge that something happened on June 4, banning more than 100 search terms. Among the words blocked: ‘Tiananmen Square,’ ‘June 4th,’ ‘student strike’ — and even words like ‘today,’ ‘tomorrow,’ ‘special day,’ and ‘candle.’
It’s nothing new. Last year, we wrote about the same thing: The Chinese government blocking words on the anniversary.
See a list of some of the blocked words here and an updated list of words blocked on Weibo here.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
