When China's prodigious tech influencer, Naomi Wu, found herself silenced, it wasn't just the machinery of a surveillance state at play. Instead, it was...

When China’s prodigious tech influencer, Naomi Wu, found herself silenced, it wasn’t just the machinery of a surveillance state at play. Instead, it was a confluence of state repression and the sometimes capricious attention of a Western audience that, as she asserts, often views Chinese activists more as ideological tokens than as genuine human beings.

  • elouboub
    1•2 years ago

    Never heard of her, but why can’t her partner (Kaidi?) leave? Can’t they sneak across the border and start a new life I dunno… in Europe, Australia, Japan, or something?

      • elouboub
        -1•2 years ago

        I’m not sure I understand… why would the Chinese keep somebody they are racist against in the country? To continue being racist against them? Wouldn’t they want them to leave? Or are they being treated as free labor?

        • @wahming@monyet.ccEnglish
          6•2 years ago

          Every victim of suppression that leaves is a possible dissident operating from abroad

        • @gowan@reddthat.comEnglish
          10•2 years ago

          Because they want to limit the amount of information the rest of the world has about China’s racist policies against them.

    • @spokenlollipop@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
      6•2 years ago

      You’re looking at it from a logical view,

      The answer is pretty much that her partner is a minority that the state hates, so they want to punish that person and anyone who supports her,

      And it’s just that. Perhaps they could escape, but I presume they both have family there, and then they may not be able to return, etc.

  • Arcturus
    6•2 years ago

    She was always keeping a moderate tone, always leaning towards supporting China and the Chinese state as well. I thought she’d skip around the censors because of it.

      • @Fisk400@feddit.nuEnglish
        3•2 years ago

        Because they are fascists with power. You can praise them all day every day but when it comes down if you are different in any way they will see you as a deviant and a sickness.

      • Arcturus
        3•2 years ago

        Because it’s not enough.
        She wasn’t enough.
        She doesn’t fit the box perfectly.
        And she was too popular to ignore.

      • @GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        8•2 years ago

        The short answer is that she reported a security vulnerability in a popular Android keyboard. It basically operated as a keylogger. The logical assumption is that the government was using that to spy on people (even people using secure messengers) and did not appreciate the secret getting out to the public.

  • kitonthenet
    20•2 years ago

    Please read past the headline, there’s an important story here with through lines of corruption, cybersecurity, and complexities of living in a state like that

  • @photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    11•2 years ago

    If the CCP wants you gone, they can have you gone, just like that. The only thing that keeps them from putting people like Naomi away permanently is international pressure. I’m worried for her, because I don’t think that will hold for much longer.