Coronavirus: China tries to contain outbreak of freedom of speech, closing critics’ WeChat accounts

Authorities censor intellectuals who have criticised officials’ handling of the outbreak

Posts calling for freedom of speech after the death of Li Wenliang, the doctor punished for alerting people about the virus, are removed

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China’s cyberspace administration said this month it had punished platforms for content it deemed unsuitable, including Tencent, owner of WeChat. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:33pm, 26 Feb 2020Updated: 7:37pm, 26 Feb 2020

Several Chinese intellectuals have had their social media accounts suspended following their demands for freedom of expression and criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

The intellectuals had said the impact of the coronavirus – which had caused more than 78,000 confirmed infections and 2,715 deaths in mainland China as of Wednesday – might have been alleviated if people had been free to raise warnings when there were early signs of an outbreak.

Qin Qianhong, a law professor from Wuhan University, a top-ranking institution in the city that has been the epicentre of the outbreak, said his WeChat account had been disabled since last Wednesday.

He said it could be because he raised concerns in his WeChat posts over the extreme lockdown measures imposed on the Hubei provincial capital, and questioned state media reports that praised the sacrifices of Wuhan residents.

His posts mocked Wuhan officials, three of whom said they felt “guilty” after being reprimanded by central government officials sent to oversee containment of the outbreak.

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