Clubhouse is blocked in China because sensors rarely close space for sensitive political debates

Clubhouse is blocked in China because sensors rarely close space for sensitive political debates

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By Monday night, many users of clubhouses in mainland China had reported that the app had been censored. When they try to log in to the app, they get a red error message indicating that a secure connection to the server cannot be made. ‘

But like Twitter (TWTR) and many other platforms blocked by China’s Great Firewall – an extensive censorship and surveillance device – can still access the app using a virtual private network. VPNs use encryption to disguise Internet traffic, which helps people in China bypass the firewall. Clubhouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At clubhouse, several chat rooms soon sprang up to discuss the blocking of the app. Hundreds of users joined them, including some who said they were based in mainland China. Greatfire.org, a group that monitors Internet censorship in China, also confirmed that the app has been blocked.

The ban on clubhouse comes as no surprise. With the political discussions garnering so much interest from China, many users and observers expected that it would only be a matter of time before the app would be blocked. Although the censorship may deter new users, it is unclear how many existing users will be kept off the platform.

Susan Liang, a 31-year-old from Shenzhen, said she would continue to join Clubhouse Chat on sensitive topics via a VPN because she did not want to give up the candid and open discussions.

“This is too rare an opportunity. Everyone has been living under the Great Firewall for so long, but on this platform we can talk about anything,” she told CNN Business. “It’s like someone drowning, and can finally breathe a big sip of air.”

But Liang expects other users to be discouraged by using a VPN as the increase in the Chinese government is increasingly targeted. Any VPN not approved by the government is illegal.

Benjamin Ismail, an expert on Apple Censorship – a project run by GreatFire.org – said that some users would be discouraged by the blockchain, but that it would not kill the program immediately in China.

There were other obstacles for Chinese users to navigate, even before the barrier. The app is only available on iPhones, and only for those with a non-Chinese appeal (AAPL) account. Once downloaded, prospective users will also need an invitation code, which may be difficult to obtain. On Monday, some are selling on the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao for between $ 13 and $ 30 each.

Popular political chat rooms

While the app first became popular in China among technology industry circles, the political chat rooms quickly desired newcomers to break free from the strict censorship at home. As its popularity increased, many Chinese also discussed topics such as culture, lifestyle, and gossip. But the space for free, inclusive political discussions was one of the most rare features of the app for Chinese-speaking communities.

One chat room hosted by Taiwanese blogger Zola worked uninterruptedly for nearly 120 hours, working with Chinese speakers in different time zones.

Another popular chat room invited young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to share their views and personal stories. The discussions started with light-hearted topics, but they soon turned to politics, with users comparing the political systems of China and Taiwan and discussing the prospects of unification.

“I do not think these topics should be out of bounds,” Jimmy Tan, a user in Guangzhou who opened the chat room with his designer friend in Taiwan, wrote on social media. “The fact that we can switch chats to these topics so quickly means exactly that we need to talk about it – it’s relevant to each of us – and it also means we keep our tongues out for too long.”

Other users and observers from outside skepticism expressed about how representative the groups participating in these political discussions are of Chinese public opinion, referring to the participants’ self-choice, as well as the barriers to using Clubhouse itself that prevent it from being a completely public app.

And the warning signs had already threatened before censorship struck. Global Times, a state-run nationalist pony newspaper, on Monday accused one side of political discussions of the app ‘unilaterally’.

“Political topics on the platform are not discussed as rationally as other topics such as technology or culture,” the newspaper said.

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