Tik Tok and Censorship in China

I know I am incredibly talented when it comes to wasting my own time. The recent emergence and popularity surge of Tik Tok has made it even easier for me to do so. Speaking of Tik Tok, I recently read an article about how certain content on the Tik Tok platform is being censored in China. The article specifically references restricting Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence, and the Falun Gong: a religious practice centered around meditation and truth that has been regarded by some outsiders as “cult-like.” After reading more about the blocked subject matter and more about the response by the social media start-up, it seems their efforts in blocking such content serves to prevent conflict, especially conflict between religious sects and/or ethnic groups. I was then intrigued as to what other types of content are censored on other social media platforms in China. It turns out a lot is blocked in China, and in order to access that content, you need a VPN, or virtual private network. These VPNs are typically used by corporations to protect sensitive data, but personal VPNs are becoming more common here in the States in an effort to protect personal privacy. Basically, you would want or need a VPN in order to hide or change your IP address (to evade encryptions), protect the data you transfer over public Wi-Fi, mask your location, or access blocked content. So it turns out people in China generally do not have wide range access to a lot that is available on the internet. Feel free to check out more here while I return to watching Tik Tok, but with greater appreciation.