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February 8, 2021 03:25 pm

Beijing Blocks Access To Clubhouse App After Surge in User Numbers

Chinese authorities have blocked domestic access to the audio-only social media app Clubhouse after it attracted untold numbers of Chinese people to uncensored, cross-border discussions on political and human rights subjects. From a report: The invitation-only US app, which only works on iPhones and was released in April 2020, allows users to listen in to discussions and interviews in quasi conference-call style online rooms. It suddenly became popular last week -- particularly in China, where people seized the opportunity to discuss taboo topics including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the persecution of Uighurs. On Monday evening Chinese users reported the platform was no longer available, ending a short-lived period of free political expression in a country where the government goes to extraordinary lengths to suppress it. The app's suppression had been predicted on the Twitter-like platform Weibo, where users were urged to "cherish such a short and open opportunity for dialogue." Users shared their Clubhouse discoveries, and commented on the rare chance for people in mainland China to openly and freely discuss politics and gender issues with their peers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. One user called it "the Renaissance of China." A related hashtag was viewed more than 50m times. But those conversations were soon also scrubbed from the internet, as well as the hashtag related to the blocking of Clubhouse, viewed at least 50,000 times before it was censored, according to reports.

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