The review, carried out by Toronto-based research group Citizen Lab found WeChat blocked combinations of keywords on the virus and criticism of President Xi Jinping’s response. The most popular messaging app in the county was created privately by Allen Zhang, but the government has actively supported its development and uses it as a data source to conduct mass surveillance in China. The government has censored what its people read and say online for years, but an unearthed report suggests they began blocking discussions weeks before officials acknowledged the severity of the outbreak.
The report also found that WeChat blocked more words as the outbreak grew.
On December 31, China first alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the outbreak, but information was initially withheld over the number of people infected, the risks downplayed, and timely information overseen, leading some to claim the government was lying about the true extent of the virus.
Then, almost a month later, on January 20, President Xi publicly addressed the issue of the virus, saying it had to be “resolutely contained”.
It is not clear if WeChat’s keyword-blocking in this period was based on government directives, or if it was done of its own accord, as the report suggests it could be the result of companies “over-censoring in order to avoid official reprimands”.
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WeChat was found to have censored 132 keyword combinations between January 1 and 31.
Among words identified were the terms “Unknown Wuhan pneumonia” and “SARS outbreak in Wuhan”.
As the outbreak continued, WeChat censored 384 new keywords between February 1 and 15.
These include criticism of Chinese leaders – including Xi – as well as neutral references to government policies on handling the epidemic and responses to the outbreak in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
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Some examples of censored combinations were: “Local authorities, epidemic, cover-up” and “Wuhan, virus, human-to-human transmission”.
The deadly virus, dubbed COVID-19, has now taken the lives of 3,220 and infected more than 94,000 worldwide.
Today, the WHO admitted medical professionals are “ill-equipped” to deal with the potential looming pandemic.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that each month, the organisation estimates that about 89 million medical masks, 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles will be required globally for healthcare workers to respond to the outbreak.
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He said: “Shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other front line healthcare workers dangerously ill-equipped.
“The WHO has shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 27 countries, but supplies are rapidly depleting.”
The dire warning comes as China announced a further drop in new cases, raising hopes that the outbreak is beginning to level off in the hard-hit country.
But, the number of new daily infections outside the country now exceeds those insides.