WSJ – Weibo Gets in Beijing’s Way

PCV notes that, much like the capital controls currently in place, an increase in the policing of political speech online is likely a byproduct of the coming bi-decade leadership shuffle this fall.

June 23, 2017

‘Any investment in China is at the mercy of the country’s government. Just ask shareholders in Nasdaq-listed Weibo, the country’s wildly popular version of Twitter .

Nasdaq-listed Weibo’s shares lost $1 billion, or 6%, of their value Thursday after China’s media regulator ordered the social media company to stop streaming video and audio content. Not only does Weibo not have the relevant licenses, according to the regulator, but it’s also posting commentary programs that propagate so-called “negative speech.”

If that sounds chilling, the reality may not prove quite so bad: Weibo users were still able to view videos freely on Friday.’

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