Chinese social app Weibo bans gay content, fans respond by trending ‘#IAmGay’
Fans flooded the social platform with gay content in protest
Chinese social media app Sina Weibo announced it is removing gay and violent content.
The popular website, which is similar to Twitter, said that it would remove “illegal” content from its website including “manga and videos with pornographic implications, promoting violence or (related to) homosexuality”.
According to Newsweek, the announcement was revealed on the platform’s official administrator’s account on Friday (April 13), stating that the new campaign would last for three months and would also target “violent video games” such as Grand Theft Auto.
Weibo claimed the move to ban gay and violent content comes after China’s new cybersecurity law which calls for strict data surveillance.
Weibo’s announcement post amassed over 24,000 comments and users quickly protested against the decision by flooding the platform with gay content.
As a result, the hashtag “I am gay” began to trend in the country.
However, some posts were deleted by the social media platform for “illegal content”.
Reports suggest that Weibo has removed over 55,000 pieces of content, shut down over 100 user accounts and removed 62 topics that allegedly violate its standards.