Former state media editor Hu Xijin warns against ‘collective silence’ on Chinese social media
Ex-Global Times chief Hu Xijin says there should be greater scope for ‘citizens to exchange information’ on social media
“There should be a collective consensus respecting individual rights on the Chinese internet,” Hu stated.
He said that, in recent years, celebrities, government officials, university lecturers and middle-to-senior managers in private enterprises had fallen silent online.
Hu added that this “represents a loss for the public information sphere”. He warned it “leaves the landscape of public discourse incomplete”, leading to a “collective silencing that should not exist in an open society”.
Hu attributed this to “a decline in societal tolerance”, saying that when individuals expressed their opinions online, “the risk of attracting trouble grows ever greater, potentially even implicating their employers”.
“Institutions should guide and uphold openness and freedom within the constitutional order,” he wrote.