Getting around censors to mourn Liu Xiaobo

Large numbers of internet users in China have used elaborate methods to get round the censors to express their grief over the death from liver cancer of the political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

References to Liu’s name were blocked on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, as well as other phrases linked to the rights activist such as “I have no enemy” – a line from his final statement to court during his trial on subversion charges in 2009.

Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail, but was released on medical parole and treated in hospital after his cancer was diagnosed in May. He died on Thursday.

Other references to Liu blocked online on the mainland included “RIP’ and Emojis of candles, a common method used by internet users to express mourning, such as after natural disasters or serious accidents.

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Blocked searches on Weibo led to a message appearing saying the result cannot be displayed “according to relevant laws, regulations and policies”.

Similar censorship was in place on WeChat, China’s hugely popular instant messaging app.

Internet users managed to express their sadness for Liu’s death by using indirect references to the political activist or through pictures and screenshots.

Many posts referring to Liu, however, were still blocked.

“Abnormal weather appeared in many places around the nation and heavy rain poured down,” one person wrote on Weibo, “Maybe the gods were sad about someone’s death.”

Many articles and poems written by Liu or his wife, plus the cover of Liu’s doctoral thesis, were widely circulated on We Chat.

“Rest in peace, Dr Liu of Beijing Normal University,” one of the posts said.

Internet users also posted screenshots of reports and obituaries released by overseas media about Liu’s death.

State-run media have largely remained silent about the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s passing.

However, the Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, said mourners were “putting on a grand show of sorrow”. The article was later removed online.

In another article, the newspaper said that Liu was “a victim led astray by the West”.

“Liu lived in an era when China witnessed the most rapid growth in recent history, but he attempted to confront Chinese mainstream society under Western support,” it said.

“This determined his tragic life. Even if he could have lived longer, he would never have achieved his political goals that are in opposition to the path of history,” it added.

Censors appear to have stepped up their surveillance and cast a wider net to catch posts with indirect references Liu as news of his death spread.

The most recent 200 Weibo posts deleted on Weibo were all related to Liu’s death on Friday morning, according to Weiboscope, a University of Hong Kong project that tracks censorship on the social media platform.

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None of the deleted tweets contained Liu’s name, with many referring to the activist simply as “him”.

Nearly a 10th of the censored posts after the announcement of Liu’s death on Thursday night contained the Chinese words for “rain” and “storm”.

Some of the messages trying to circumvent censorship by adding text inside pictures were also blocked.

Liu, 61, died of multiple organ failure on Thursday, according to statement released by the hospital treating him in Shenyang in Liaoning province.

Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. He was represented at the ceremony by an empty chair.

Additional reporting by Kinling Lo