Exiled Chinese writer faces web wrath over picture showing Chairman Mao's image on naked protester

Liao Yiwu (right) posted an image of artist Meng Huang streaking at a demonstration in support of the jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo Photo: @liaoyiwu1/Getty

By Robert Foyle Hunwick, Beijing

02 Jan 2015

An exiled Chinese writer has received a warning and had his Facebook account suspended for posting pictures of a nude protestor, in what appears to be the second recent example of the social-media site being manipulated by pro-government “trolls.”

Liao Yiwu, whose works include The Corpse Walker and Interviews with People from the Bottom Rung of Society, had posted images of artist Meng Huang streaking at an annual demonstration in support of the jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, but had covered Meng’s groin with an image of Mao Zedong to avoid breaching Facebook’s community rules. Ironically, such an image would be considered even more offensive to Chinese authorities, who strictly control the use of Mao’s image.

Mr Liao said that image led to a flurry of notifications informing him that his posts, which included a photograph of an activist wearing the V for Vendetta mask of Guy Fawkes, had been flagged as inappropriate by anonymous users.

Mr Liao’s suspension follows the similar, widely reported censorship of Tibetan critic, writer and journalist Tsering Woeser, whose video of a monk self-immolating in Sichuan province was deleted as it “didn't meet Facebook's community standards.” Woeser compared Facebook to a Chinese website, and Mr Liao, who now lives in Berlin, seemed similarly perplexed. “It feels like I’ve returned to China and have to play cat and mouse games with Internet censors again,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

Facebook was blocked in China after online groups called for demonstrations outside Chinese embassies in support of the Uighur ethnic minority involved in serious ethnic unrest during the summer of 2009. The company has made no secret of its interest in China’s half-billion strong Internet audience, even publicly courting “web czar” Lu Wei at its California office.

But in a statement, Facebook denied any political dimension to the censorship.

“Any suggestion that we took action because of politics, philosophy or theoretical business interests is complete nonsense,” the company said.

A more likely explanation is that China’s legions of pro-government wumaoding – or 50-cent army – are exploiting Facebook’s complaints system to target users who post critical or controversial content about China. Both Mr Woeser and Mr Liao said they had had had no difficulties with the site until this week.