Blocked on Weibo: What Gets Suppressed on China s Version of Twitter (and Why) Paperback – August 27, 2013

This is a thoughtful and detailed book on censorship in China, with an excellent introductory chapter that discusses the layers of formal and informal censorship. Unfortunately, the embedded Chinese characters in the text are impossible to read on a smart phone, even if one pauses to zoom in (I use an HTC One with a very high resolution screen). The characters are small but legible on my 24" screen at home, but this is a book that encourages reading entry by entry so is well suited to reading on the go.The book puts much emphasis on the dynamism of term blocking on Weibo (the largest Chinese version of Twitter), with an appendix at the back that shows what terms that were blocked when the author did his first research in 2012 and whether the terms were still blocked as the book was going to press. Jason Ng is very clear about how he went about choosing the terms, and this is one of those books where some of the chapter end notes are as interesting -- perhaps more interesting -- than the text itself. Finally, recognizing that China is not the only country that censors the Internet, the author does a good job contextualizing the Chinese system with Internet censorship elsewhere in the world (and Internet monitoring as well).

This book opens a window into contemporary Chinese history and culture. The word China and Censorship have become synonymous in current Western media. This book serves to showcase how both the government and the people (netizens) deal with changing views and emerging technologies. The "Blocked" words are not only interesting in how netizens have found ways to communicate about censored issues but also exposes current events that would otherwise be unheard in the world.The book is structured with a blocked word on each page, followed by an explanation of it's meaning and why it was blocked on Weibo (Chinese twitter).My favorite portion of the books is the detailed explanation of the meaning of the block words which can be both insightful and comical. Who knew Mao Ze Dong is also known as Hairy Bacon?!

Learned a lot on a new topic I don't have much background on. Also learned a lot about modern history and culture of China, an opportunity you don't often get when you are only exposed to Western media.

Excellent nonfiction read! The book was in good condition

Regardless of how the terms are blocked, the point is that censorship is rampant in China. Anything seen as politically subversive is removed and the author is subject to detention. Sina Weibo exists not because of cultural differences, but because China does not want their citizens to learn the definition of freedom of speech. China has an abysmal human rights record and we should not be jumping in to defend it. This book exposes the "Great Firewall" for what it is. Also, please ignore the one star review as that reviewer likely did not read the book and is a victim of Chinese propaganda.

twitter is stupid and china is smart and i offended by this book and would start a riot if an option were readily available

Does a good job explaining various terms and why their blockedEasy to understand and very interesting. Very good read