Chinese media and scholars react to Trump’s Twitter and Facebook ban with derision amid China’s Big Tech crackdown
- Chinese pundits and academics call Trump’s social media ban a cautionary tale as the country cracks down on Big Tech
- Some people sympathised with the US president’s predicament, noting the life-altering impact of losing access to tech platforms like WeChat in China
Online reactions in China to Trump’s ban from social media platforms have been mixed. Many were shocked that US platforms had the audacity to silence the country’s president. Some were relieved that Trump was being punished. Others have taken a more sympathetic stance, relating Trump’s predicament to their own experiences of being banned from social platforms.
But state-owned media commentators and academics are increasingly weighing in, painting the ban as a cautionary tale of social media platforms wielding too much power. Many also claim that the ban hypocritically goes against US advocacy of free speech.
The commentary comes amid an ongoing regulatory crackdown aimed at Chinese tech giants, a firestorm first touched off in November when the Chinese government halted the initial public offering of Ant Group and then initiated an investigation last month into Ant affiliate Alibaba Group Holding, China’s largest e-commerce company and owner of the South China Morning Post.
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Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the China’s Ministry of Commerce, expressed concerns over the potential for freewheeling tech platforms to pose a political threat to the country.
“The behaviour of these social media platforms has raised panic in other countries,” Mei said. “Tech companies in China have to make a positive impact. We won’t restrain ourselves economically. But in terms of political risks, we can’t allow this to happen in China.”
Wang Sixin, a professor from the Communication University of China, echoed those sentiments.