New SZ podcast:China’s propaganda network
Whistleblower Li Wenliang has tried to warn people in China about the coronavirus.
(Photo: SZ.de)
For the Chinese government, the Internet is a powerful weapon – which it uses purposefully to write its own reality. The corona pandemic has shown how dangerous this can be: The first episode of the new SZ podcast series.
By Antonia Franz and Lea Sahay
When the coronavirus spread first in the city of Wuhan and then throughout China in early 2020, the Chinese government did what it does best: arrest whistleblowers, spread propaganda and censor the internet. The pandemic shows how perfectly this system now works. Even when it happened again in Shanghai in 2022. But the Internet is also a haven for people. A place where they can bond. Until the censors are faster than the users again.
“I Get It” is the first episode of the eight-part podcast series “The Great Firewall: How China is Changing the Internet.” Each episode deals with a term that is censored on the Chinese Internet. A production of the Süddeutsche Zeitung – wherever there are podcasts.