Analyzing the coexistence of emerging transparency and tight political control on Weibo

Abstract

The trial of China's former official Bo Xilai is a significant benchmark for social media's role in increasing transparency in the Chinese justice system, at least when it comes to the trials of Party officials. In thinking about the correlation between governmentality and the Bo Xilai trial in China, this paper argues that it is problematic and insufficient to equate the conduct of the trial with Western liberalism. The continuous enforcement of Weibo regulation and other types of control in the new media era indeed made the Chinese Government more authoritarian. However, this article argues that the party-state is deliberately taking a number of sophisticated strategies and calculations through moderating and censoring Weibo service to reduce the risks on the controversial issue of the trial.

Keywords:

• social media
• China
• political transparency
• Bo Xilai
• censorship

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bei Guo

Bei Guo (PhD, University of Adelaide, Adelaide) is currently finishing her PhD in Media at University of Adelaide. Her research interests include China's social media, governmentality, media regulation and governance.

Ying Jiang

Ying Jiang (PhD, University of Adelaide, Adelaide), grew up in China, studied and lived in Switzerland, Scotland and England before she came to Adelaide to pursue a doctoral degree in 2006. After being awarded a PhD in 2010, Ying joined Media Discipline at the University of Adelaide as a lecturer. In 2008, Ying was selected as one of the 100 outstanding young Chinese leaders in the world by Hong Kong Dragon Foundation. Ying's research interests and publications mainly include cyber-nationalism, cross-cultural communication, social media and public relations.