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June 14th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Earlier this month, authorities targeted a photo-shopped image – also on Weibo
– of the famous Tiananmen Square photograph in which a lone protester faces
down a line of tanks. The image – in which the tanks were replaced with
giant rubber ducks – irritated authorities enough that not only did they
remove the picture itself, they also blocked all internet searches related
to the squeaky bath toys.
But a recent Harvard study, which analysed millions of micro-blog posts,
concluded that posts “with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state,
its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored” than other
posts.
In fact, the study found that the censors’ key aim was to curtail “collective
action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social
mobilisation”.
There is no suggestion that Winnie the Pooh or Tigger had been plotting to
stir up social unrest in China.
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