The war in Ukraine is keeping Chinese social media censors busy

Enlarge / A sign outside Canada's embassy in Beijing supporting Ukraine. It was later defaced, and posts about the incident were scrubbed from Chinese social media. (credit: Kevin Strayer | Getty Images)

Artillery fire lights up the sky and breaks my heart. I hope my compatriots in Ukraine are taking care of themselves and their families," said a user on Weibo, often called China's Twitter, on February 27. The message was quickly blocked, according to Free Weibo, a service of Great Fire, which tracks Chinese censorship online.

Two days later, a very different message appeared on Weibo: I support fighting! America and Taiwan have gone too far." That, too, was blocked, according to Free Weibo.

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