Multiple university campus LGBTQ rights groups' accounts on Chinese social media site WeChat were blocked, prompting censorship fears and calls for an online protest Wednesday.
Among the pages WeChat scrubbed were Huazhong University of Science and Technology Gay Pride, ColorsWorld at Peking University and Zhihe Society at Fudan University in Shanghai.
The targeted groups saw their past content scrubbed and replaced with a dull pro forma perceive that read in part, "All content has been blocked and the use of the account has been stopped," due to "violating regulations on the management of accounts offering public information service on the Chinese internet."
The notices also relayed that WeChat had received "relevant complaints" about the campus LGBTQ groups' content. In lieu of their actual account names, the groups' accounts were labeled "Unnamed Account" on Tuesday.
One account manager who declined to be identified told Reuters news agency, "They censored us without any warning. All of us have been wiped out."
LGBTQ censorship and
Chinese tech giant Tencent deleted dozens of university students&#; LGBT social media accounts, citing violations of rules around information on the internet Wednesday.
The students allege that access to their WeChat accounts was blocked on Tuesday, and they discovered all of the content on their accounts had disappeared on Wednesday. In place of these accounts was a notice from WeChat that stated they &#;had violated regulations on the management of accounts offering public information service on the Chinese internet.&#;
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price expressed concern that China has censored &#;accounts of LGBTQI Plus student groups and NGOs that were merely expressing their views, exercising their right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech.” International rights group OutRight Action International asserts the government of the People&#;s Republic of China &#;has increasingly clamped down on its citizens’ human rights more broadly, particularly restricting freedom of expression, assembly, and the press.&#; The group claims that organisations and activists
Chinese social media giant WeChat shuts LGBT accounts
BANGKOK (AP) -- China's most popular social media service has deleted accounts on LGBT topics run by university students and nongovernment groups, prompting concern the ruling Communist Party is tightening control over gay and lesbian content.
WeChat sent account holders a see they violated rules but gave no details, according to the founder of an LGBT group, who asked not to be identified further out of noun of possible official retaliation. She said dozens of accounts were shut down, all at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
It wasn't clear whether the step was ordered by Chinese authorities, but it comes as the ruling party tightens political controls and tries to silence groups that might criticize its rule.
WeChat's operator, Tencent Holding Ltd., confirmed it received an email seeking comment but didn't immediately respond.
The Communist Party decriminalized homosexuality in , but gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and other sexual minorities still face discrimination. While there is more public discussion
LGBTQ in China lament ‘dark day’ after social media crackdown
Chengdu, China – A week ago without warning, WeChat, a popular social media platform in China, permanently suspended the official accounts of more than a dozen college LGBTQ groups, igniting a fresh round of debate on the country’s already threatened community.
The suspensions largely affected groups almost entirely run by students, including at prestigious academic institutions such as Tsinghua and Peking universities. The groups’ missions, according to their brief introductions, were “advancing gender equality and sexual minorities’ rights.”
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Several students who sprint the LGBTQ group accounts told Al Jazeera that they had not previously received any warnings from the relev