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Josephine Ma

Online censors in China are playing cat and mouse with internet users over a six-minute protest video about the plight of Shanghai’s locked-down residents.
The video, Voice of April, started appearing on social media and instant messaging platforms on Friday and was swiftly removed by censors, who also disabled online searches for the video’s name.
Internet users continued to keep posting the video by applying small changes, such as altering the title, to try to reach more viewers.
The author of a blog called Zhang Feng Guancha, or Zhang Feng Observations, said he had seen many variations of the video since it went online on Friday, and no matter how quick it was censored, it kept being circulated via WeChat groups.


Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, has been in lockdown since late March to try to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Residents have faced food and medicine shortages, and there have been reports of some patients being refused medical care.
In a show of frustration at the conditions, some residents recorded phone calls with neighbourhood and disease control officials and posted them online.
But each time, the posts were removed swiftly by censors.
Shanghai’s Covid-19 lockdown takes heavy toll on young families
The Voice of April is a compilation of those complaints.
The video combines aerial views of the city with about two dozen audio recordings reflecting the plight of the population over the last few weeks.
The recordings are presented in chronological order, starting with two recordings of Shanghai officials stating publicly in March that the government would not lock down the city because it was a national financial hub.
The video then presents voices on the ground from April, including those of neighbourhood committee officials saying they cannot help residents to get medical services.
There is also audio of a baby being taken away from its parents as the child is put into quarantine, residents chanting for food, a mother knocking on a neighbour’s door for medicine for her child, and a cancer patient unable to return home after chemotherapy.
Many of the recordings had been widely circulated online earlier this month before they were censored.
China’s community officials feel strain of Shanghai Covid lockdown
There were also some positive clips, including stranded drivers thanking Shanghai police for bringing them food.
In another recording, an old man gives food to workers in his building saying: “The virus does not kill, but starvation does.”
Each of the recordings is accompanied by subtitles showing the time and the number of Covid-19 cases in Shanghai at the time.
The producer of the clip is now known.


Without referring to the video by name, Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of nationalist tabloid Global Times, wrote on Weibo on Friday that it was natural for Shanghai people to vent their grievances online after a long time in lockdown.
The authorities should give some room for the public to release their emotions online while managing opinions, he said.
The authorities did allow a brief national outpouring of emotion online after the death of doctor Li Wenliang, a whistle-blower who was reprimanded for alerting his friends about the new virus.
But those tributes soon turned into calls for freedom of speech and were shut down.
The authorities then spun the narrative to portray Li as a hero and a loyal Communist Party member. No online protest has been allowed since, although many cities have gone through lockdown.


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Shanghai

Voice of April: the Shanghai Covid-19 protest video testing censors

The video overlays aerial views of Shanghai with audio recordings of the plight of the population. Photo: Handout

US embassy extends services to make up for Covid lockdown-hit Shanghai consulate

The US embassy in Beijing is supplementing services to help citizens in the Shanghai consular district. Photo: AFP

With no end to Shanghai’s Covid lockdown in sight, anger among residents is at risk of boiling over

Staff members organise mass food orders from locked down Shanghai residents. Photo: Reuters

China’s largest city has turned into a ghost town during a citywide lockdown. Photo: Reuters

A medical worker performs a Covid-19 PRC test on a resident in Shanghai. Photo: Xinhua

A viral video of the killing of a corgi infuriated Shanghai residents. Photo: Weibo

Government workers unpack boxes of masks in Shanghai. Photo: AP 

Shanghai residents carry the Chinese national flag and the Communist Party flag as they prepare for Covid-19 tests. Photo: AP 

Voices from the ground: Shanghai’s lockdown through the eyes of SCMP’s journalists

Residents take a covid test in the Huangpu district of Shanghai during the lockdown. Photo: Tracy Qu

Puxi residents rushing to stock up on food one day after Shanghai announced a plan to lockdown the city. Photo: Tracy Qu

Daniel Ren’s two cats keep him company during the lockdown while his wife is away at work under a “closed loop” system at a TV station. Photo: Daniel Ren

Alice Yan’s fridge is stocked full of food, thanks to community group buying schemes. Photo: Alice Yan

Puxi residents rushing into a supermarket to stock up on food the day after Shanghai announced plans to lock down the city. Photo: Tracy Qu

A deserted Lujiazui area of the Pudong district. Photo: Thomas Yau

Suzhou-administered Zhangjiagang city near Shanghai has entered a seven-day lockdown as of Wednesday, allowing only one person from each household to go out every day with a pass. Photo: Yaling Jiang

Shanghai residents frequently take the coronavirus antigen test during the lockdown. Photo: Alice Yan

An ear of corn and one cucumber: the only official supplies Ann Cao and her roommate have received from the government since April 3. Photo: Ann Cao

Aerial photo of the locked down Puxi area of Shanghai. Photo: Thomas Yau

News

China

Politics

Coronavirus

Greater China


Compilation of audio complaints about lockdown went online on Friday and was swiftly taken down
But internet users have found ways to keep it circulating



Compilation of audio complaints about lockdown went online on Friday and was swiftly taken down.


Coronavirus China

Shanghai reopening

Voice of April: the Shanghai Covid-19 protest video testing censors

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Compilation of audio complaints about lockdown went online on Friday and was swiftly taken down But internet users have found ways to keep it circulating

Compilation of audio complaints about lockdown went online on Friday and was swiftly taken down

But internet users have found ways to keep it circulating