Twitter cracks down on free speech in China ahead of the Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary.
Twitter purged tens of thousands of accounts critical of the Chinese government just days ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4.
The action prompted widespread complaints, prompting the social media giant to issue a rare apology while downplaying its censorship of Chinese civil rights activists and cultural commentators.
Details of Twitter’s crackdown were brought to light by Chinese human rights activist Yaxue Cao, founder and editor of China Change. He posted that “a large number of Chinese Twitter accounts are being suspended today. They ‘happen’ to be accounts critical of China, both inside and outside China.”
Many of the affected users operated outside of China, including in Germany and the United States. These accounts have been around for years, largely engaging in commentary on Chinese culture and politics—some of which amassed upwards of 100,000 followers.