Coronavirus outbreak has now spread to other parts of Asia and the number of cases around the deadly virus continues to rise. A range of negative news and information is also lingering on social media around the deadly virus. To keep the negativity in check, China is monitoring WeChat and Twitter to track people who are spreading the negativity around the disease.

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A new report by Vice sheds light on how the Chinese government is taking strict surveillance steps to stop any negative news around Coronavirus from getting shared online. Some of these steps include tracking people on Twitter using their mobile numbers, hacking user’s WeChat accounts to track down location, and more. There are also legal consequences and arrests involved for people who are caught spreading negativity around the Coronavirus epidemic.

Chinese government is also getting rid of online protests that stirred up after the death of a 33-year-old whistleblower doctor, Li Wenliang. Li was taken in by the Chinese authorities after he tried warning his colleagues on social media about the deadly virus. As reported by the Guardian, police authorities took in Wenliang as he was “spreading false rumors” and “disrupted the social order”.

Wenliang’s death caused an uproar on social media, with people demanding ‘freedom of speech’ in the country. The Vice report cites an example of Jiang Ming, a Dongguan resident in China, who was interrogated by the Ministry of State Security, after he posted a tweet criticizing the Chinese government for its delayed response to the deadly outbreak.

As of Feb 24, China’s National Health Commission has reported 508 new confirmed cases of the Coronavirus outbreak and 71 new deaths. There have also been additional 84 cases of the coronavirus in South Korea, taking the total number of infections nationwide to 977.

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