China tries to rein in microbloggers

In an attempt to control the the tide I mean the internet and how people use the Chinese Communist Party is working feverishly to stop its citizens from voicing opinions.    Well, their own opinions.  As you know authoritarian governments don't like it when the people think for themselves.

 The strict censorship of mainstream media in China has made social media an essential forum for public debate, but authorities have shown increasing determination to control it. Previous campaigns have warned the public against spreading rumours – a theme that has recurred in this crackdown – and ordered users to register with their real names.Now attention has turned to the country's opinion formers. A recent commentary in the state-run Global Times newspaper warned that "Big Vs" – meaning verified accounts with millions of followers – had become "relay stations for online rumours" and accused them of "harming the dignity of the law".

Let's face it a citizenry of sheep is preferable to the alternative a citizen who questions the policies of the lords of government.

   In a powerful essay for the Guardian published on Wednesday, novelistMurong Xuecun – the most high-profile figure to have his account cancelled – compares the atmosphere to the periods before major campaigns against intellectuals in the Maoist era and in 1989, when the crushing of the Tiananmen Square student protests ended the brief flourishing of discussion and debate.The author, whose real name is Hao Qun, writes: "As in 1957, 1966 and 1989, Chinese intellectuals are feeling more or less the same fear as one does before an approaching mountain storm. The scariest [fear] of all is not being silenced or sent to prison; it is the sense of powerlessness and uncertainty about what comes next … It's as if you are walking into a minefield blindfolded."

I'm thinking the Chinese government needs to go all 1984 on their ass and create an interactive broadcast system controlled by the government,  installed in every home and can't be turned off.  People need their 24 hour 7 days a week of state propaganda its what they live for.