By Admin 
China’s strict digital surveillance and online censorship system is now becoming a noose around its neck. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) claimed in its report that the Chinese government’s surveillance of every aspect of its citizens’ lives is now backfiring for itself.
According to Taiwan’s Taipei Times report, MAC claimed that the suspicious death of Chinese actor Alan Yu in Beijing on September 11 exposed the weaknesses of China’s digital control system. Chinese officials said that the actor died in the accident while driving under the influence of alcohol, while Chinese social media users expressed doubt about it. In China, many videos and audios went viral on the internet linking Alan Yu to senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Cai Qi.
China removed audio-video related to actor’s death
In China, as soon as the government felt that the news spreading on social media could go against it, its online censors became active. Not only this, all the discussions going on on the internet regarding the actor were removed. China’s Cyberspace Administration also summoned executives of major platforms like Sina Weibo, Douyin and Kuaishou, fined them and asked them to closely monitor trending topics.
China’s digital censorship exposed
According to MAC, this incident exposed China’s digital control strategy that the more the authorities censor, the more citizens will doubt official statements. Citing an article by researcher Kevin Hsu in Foreign Policy, MAC said that censorship has become the story in China, giving rise to conspiracies and reducing trust in government institutions.
Public anger increased in China
The Mainland Affairs Council also highlighted the lack of autonomy in the entertainment industry in China, where the importance of artists waxes and wanes depending on political interests. It said that people’s anger over Alan Yu’s death showed that the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship system has had the opposite effect, increasing public anger instead of calming it down.