China reportedly using WeChat and Twitter to find and silence

The Chinese government is tracking down people on social platforms like Twitter and WeChat who share what officials consider to be negative information about the coronavirus outbreak, Vice reports. The regulation of protest and dissent is not new in China, but people who have shared information about the virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan describe relatively tame social media interactions that nonetheless resulted in both direct and indirect responses from the Chinese government, according to Vice.

The coronavirus has become a subject of dissent in China, with online protests like the one following the death of whistleblower Li Wenliang racking up angry reactions that are then swiftly taken down. The hashtag “I want…