Tweets and Memories: Chinese Censors Come after Me. Forbidden Voices of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre on Sina Weibo, 2012-2018

Abstract

<p></p><p>Instead of focusing on the regime's control mechanism, this study identified a group of Chinese netizens who, despite being well aware of media censorship, posted on social media to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre annually. Drawing on the concepts of ritualization and social signalling, 1,256 censored Sina Weibo posts published on June 1-4 between 2012 and 2018 were analysed and thematically classified into five categories: collective narratives and counter-discourse, remembrance, condemnation, citizen reporting, and response to current political suppression. The authors argued that tweeting and being censored have paradoxically become a ceremonial ritual for Chinese netizens. By posting serious, playful, and satirical messages, Chinese netizens send costly signals to express dissatisfaction toward the country's problems.<br></p>