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RFA: Fearing a Spread of the Rights Movement, Chinese Authorities Blocked News Coverage on Iranian Protests

According to an article that Radio Free Asia (RFA) published, the Ministry of Publicity reportedly circulated a notice on the Internet which stated that no media outlet is allowed to report on the Iranian people’s protests. The notice ordered that no media should have news coverage on anything about Iran or on anything about the protests. It also requested that the Office of Cyberspace Affairs launch its plan to monitor Internet activity on any forum discussions about the protests; it should also consider a shutdown of any online discussions, comments, and forwarding functions, if needed, and detain those who violate the order. The article reported that, even though it was hard to verify the authenticity of the notice, it did find that there has not been much news coverage on the protests in the official media. It also appears that any online discussion on this topic has not been widely censored.

The RFA article reported that, since the protests broke out in Iran, over three million people went to the streets to protest. At least two protesters died and over 200 were arrested. The Iranian government also shut down a number of social media platforms, accusing the protesters of using the social media platforms to organize protest activities.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 1, 2018
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/media-01012018073646.html