This week marks the anniversary of the Tiananmen student protests which started in April 1989 and ended with the violent crackdown on June 4th of that year.
It is the time of the year that censorship on Chinese social media intensifies, which is noticeable in various ways.
One noteworthy change is the disappearance of various Weibo emoji. Already in 2012, China Digital Times reported that the Sina Weibo platform quietly removed the candle icon from its collection of “frequently used emoticons” just before June 4. A year later, Shanghaiist also reported that the candle emoji had once again been removed, making the disappearing emoji a questionable annual Weibo tradition.
On Twitter, BBC reporter Kerry Allen (@kerrya11en) posted earlier that usually at this of year, it is not just the candle that disappears from Weibo’s list of emoji, but also the leaf, the cake, the ribbon, and the present.
It's that time of year where I start watching #Weibo closely as emojis suddenly disappear ahead of the Tiananmen anniversary.
There don't appear to be any restrictions on the platform just yet, but the four clumsily circled emojis always vanish around this time. pic.twitter.com/kHuOPrVaqE
— Kerry Allen 凯丽 (@kerrya11en) June 1, 2021
A screenshot taken by What’s on Weibo on June 1st of this year showed that all emoji were still available.
But on June 3rd, three emoji had disappeared from the list, including the falling leaf (风吹叶落), candle (蜡烛), and cake (生日蛋糕).
Screenshot June 1 2021 (left) versus June 3 2021 (right).
The disappearance of the emoji means that Weibo posts that were previously made by official media using these emoji also no longer contain them – instead, only the emoji description shows up.
To circumvent censorship, social media users in China often use emoji, creative language, or images to get their message across. To keep discussions on the violent events of June 4 contained, online censors also crack down on sensitive words, numbers, photographs, and symbols.
At this time, the term ‘Tiananmen’ has not been banned on Weibo, but the only posts using the term are official ones about another anniversary, namely that of the Communist Party. The Communist Party of China will mark its 100th anniversary in July.
By Manya Koetse
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The post The Disappearing Emoji on Weibo in Light of June 4 appeared first on What's on Weibo.