Nieman curator weighs in on digital censorship

Nieman curator Bob Giles writes about the difficulties Chinese blogger Michael Anti is having publishing under his preferred name. Anti, a 2008 Nieman Fellow whose government-recorded name is Zhao Jing, has used his pen name professionally for years. That changed quickly in January however, when Facebook cancelled his account without warning and deleted all his contacts, due to a “real name policy.” The Committee to Protect Journalists describes the move as complicit with “China’s growing attempt to stifle the free flow of news and opinion.”
Nieman curator Bob Giles writes about the difficulties Chinese blogger Michael Anti is having publishing under his preferred name. Anti, a 2008 Nieman Fellow whose government-recorded name is Zhao Jing, has used his pen name professionally for years. That changed quickly in January however, when Facebook cancelled his account without warning and deleted all his contacts, due to a “real name policy.” The Committee to Protect Journalists describes the move as complicit with “China’s growing attempt to stifle the free flow of news and opinion.”

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