This Is The Reason China Bans Western Social Media, Similar To The US Which Bans TikTok

Several western social media have been banned in China. (photo: pexels)

JAKARTA - China is one of the countries that has strict rules regarding the use of social media. Some of the western social media commonly used in other countries, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, cannot be accessed by users in China.

This is due to the rules imposed by the Chinese government regarding internet controls and their use in the country.

Some of the western social media banned in China include:

Facebook is one of the largest and most popular social media in the world, but cannot be accessed in China. In 2009, Facebook had tried to enter the Chinese market by forming partnerships with Chinese companies, but its efforts were unsuccessful. In 2010, Facebook was officially banned in China.

Similar to Facebook, Twitter is also inaccessible to users in China. Twitter was banned in 2009 after being used by pro-democracy activists in China to communicate and disseminate information related to protests in Tiananmen Square.

Instagram is also inaccessible to users in China. Instagram was banned in 2014 after being used by Hong Kongers to post photos related to pro-democracy protests.

YouTube is the world's largest video-sharing platform, but inaccessible in China. YouTube was banned in 2009 after being used by pro-democracy activists in China to post videos related to protests in Tibet.

Apart from the above west social media, there are several other platforms that are also inaccessible in China, such as WhatsApp, Line, and Google+. Nonetheless, China has its own social media platforms used by hundreds of millions of domestic users, such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, and Douyin.

The Chinese government is restricting access to western social media on the grounds of maintaining the security and stability of the country. This is also linked to internet control policies and surveillance carried out by the Chinese government on domestic internet users.

Restrictions on western social media in China have become a topic of debate among the international community. Some consider the restrictions to be a violation of the right to free speech and human rights. However, others consider that these restrictions are needed to maintain the security and stability of the country, as well as to control the uncontrolled use of the internet in the country.

Meanwhile, the TikTok line has also begun to be banned on TikTok government devices by the US. The ban on TikTok in the US and China's social media ban are actually related, but have different contexts and destinations.

The ban on TikTok by the US during the time of President Donald Trump and now when it was re-proposed by the US Senate, is based on concerns that American user data collected by TikTok could be accessed by the Chinese government and used for the benefit of the country. The US is also concerned that TikTok could be used by China to influence public opinion and profit in economic and technological competition between the US and China.

On the other hand, China's Western social media ban is an attempt to restrict Chinese users' access to foreign social media platforms. The Chinese government has strict control over the internet in its country and wants to promote domestically-made social media platforms. In addition, China also has concerns about content that could influence public opinion and domestic social stability.

In both cases, concerns about the use of social media by foreign governments to influence public opinion and gain economic and technological benefits are the main reasons behind the ban.