Specificity, Conflict, and Focal Point: A Systematic Investigation into Social Media Censorship in China

Abstract

Internet censorship mechanisms in China are highly dynamic and yet to be fully accounted for by existing theories. This study interrogates postpublication censorship on Chinese social media by examining the differences between 2,280 pairs of censored WeChat articles and matched remaining articles. With the effects of account attributes and article topics excluded, we find that article specificity raises the odds of being censored. Also, an examination on a collection of international trade articles indicates that such articles with textual units disclosing conflicts, even pro-regime messages, are also removed by the censors. This mixed-method study introduces focal point as a theoretical angle to understand China’s contextually contingent content regulation system and offers evidence based on large-scale, nonproprietary, and original social media data to investigate the evolving censorship mechanisms in China.