Self-aware censorship machines, and China's censorship

This is just funny though. Censorship machine preserves its own survival, knowing that criticism of itself threatens its own survival.

Out-of-control censorship machines removed my article warning of out-of-control censorship machines

The censorship machine struck more than just that

Bizarre DMCA Takedown Requests Censor EU ‘Censorship’ News

Of course when it comes to censorship nopony is a bigger horse than China. I have to deal with it personally quite a few times, since I visit there still. I'm going to there soon, actually, VPN is a must.

I read the paper How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression (2013) by Gary King et al. It is very interesting to see how China really operates its censorship. It shows that Chinese censorship is really about stopping people from collective actions. Criticisms are okay, as long as they don't spread or worse, incite collective anger or actions. 

Also, the censorship machine only comes into serious force during sensitive events, again to stop collective actions. The only topics that are consistently censored all the time are porn and... criticism of censorship.

I checked up the paper again today and found that there's a new paper by Gary King et al, How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument (2017). I have yet to read the paper, but an overview is