The ways mainland China netizens expose themselves to diverse online comments regardless of censorship

Abstract

China is one of the most rapidly growing developing countries in the world and has drawn the attention of many countries with its variety of media platforms and strict rules governing censorship. Online censorship and the effect this has on comment control has been studied by a number of scholars. This study investigates how netizens in Mainland China exposed themselves to a diverse online environment despite government censorship through semi-structured qualitative interviews. Eight participants were interviewed, and the results show that the plurality of comments, diversified chat functions, and strong confidentiality are considered to be the enabling environment for a diverse online comment environment. Interviewees also believed access to diversity of online platforms such as Bilibili, National Geographic of Azeroth, and IT Home to be diverse online comment environments. Finally, the results also show there to be two diverging perspectives regarding current online censorship in Mainland China. One perspective is that the current level of censorship is necessary for maintaining a safe and harmonious online comment environment, although this does not necessarily lead to a more diverse online comment environment. The other perspective is that censorship in Mainland China is currently too strict and unsafe for many people as the privacy of netizens is exposed to strangers, potentially resulting in harm to them. This study shows some insights on the ways Mainland China netizens expose themselves to diverse online comments regardless of censorship. It provides some evidences on why Mainland China netizens choose some specific media platforms over others. The limitations of this study and potential future study directions are also introduced in this study.