The Chinese Communist government sternly warned Olympic athletes not to engage in any unauthorized political speech or post anything provocative through the relatively “open” Internet service at the Olympic Village, but Chinese state media roundly applauded an American athlete for gushing over the “incredible” accommodations she found in Beijing.
The Olympic Village was provided with special Internet connections that allow access to websites and services forbidden to Chinese citizens, such as Twitter and Facebook. Supposedly, these special connections would not be monitored by Chinese authorities, but no one even pretended to believe that.
The “open” Internet access came with warnings that China would punish athletes for political speech or “racial propaganda,” which, of course, would include any discussion of China’s genocide against the Uyghur Muslims.
Read more…
