WeChat is a window into the future of the internet in many different ways. Based in China and boasting over 1.1 billion global users, it’s one of the world’s most advanced and popular apps.
New research from the University of Toronto’s CitizenLab pulls the curtain back on how WeChat’s real-time, automatic censorship of text and images is used to exert control over political discussion on topics ranging from international issues like the trade war with the US to domestic scandals like the disappearance of court documents in a 2018 dispute between two multibillion-dollar Chinese mining companies. All discussion is ultimately subject to the Chinese government’s approval.
Researchers found that newsworthy events like the arrest of a Huawei executive on charges of fraud and the CRISPR-baby scandal in which a Chinese scientist announced the birth of girls with edited genomes triggered waves of censorship. So did a host of other issues, like conflict with the US and domestic corruption or other problems. According to Michael Dukakis Institute (MDI) and AI World Society (AIWS), AI and advanced technology should be applied and developed to promote ethical norms and practices for helping people achieve well-being and happiness, and it could not be used as a real-time automated censorship for digital dictatorship.
The original article can be found here