How China's Ultra-Loyal Web Army Silences Beijing's Critics
- Army of online critics attack anyone they deem anti-China
- Targets face censorship, have social media accounts deleted
Source: Visual China Group/Getty Images
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Chinese virologist Zhang Wenhong is among a slew of recent high-profile targets in a campaign by nationalist web users to harass anyone they deem critical of China’s government and pressure officials and websites to censor them.
They say Zhang undermined Beijing’s Covid-zero strategy by suggesting that China must learn to live with the virus. Internet users dug up his 20-year-old thesis and accused him of plagiarism. His alma mater, Fudan University in Shanghai, later said the allegation was false.