That frigging article looks like its full of April fools day
acts, like this one:<p>"That China’s propaganda apparatus has a problem with satire has long been evident. In 2012, The People’s Daily fell for a satirical report in The Onion voting North Korea leader Kim Jong-un the sexiest man alive. The Communist Party newspaper ran a 55-page photo spread in tribute to Kim, quoting the Onion as celebrating his devastatingly handsome looks, round face, boyish charm and strong, sturdy frame — not realizing it was satire.
"<p>I really hope none of this is real. LIES all LIES?!?! :D
April Fool's day historically derives from the day of misrule, whereby the social order was inverted and for a day a lowly fool took the throne of the king.
The Chinese authorities obviously take lying much too seriously to allow any jokes about it. As is appropriate for such an important instrument in their tool chest.
When I lived in China, I'd never heard of April Fools Day. It seems to be a western thing. Hence this ban isn't all that relevant inside China.<p>From the examples it seems like China is actually trying to ban April Fools Day for western media, but the article doesn't make this clear, and it's difficult to imagine that is the case. So I find it hard to take this article seriously.
This is blatantly misleading. April Fools' Day HAS NOT been banned in China. I can confirm because am in China. Upon searching baidu (their search engine), April Fools' day has not been banned or blocked. Rather, it's simply being discouraged by official media. There's a HUGE difference between discouraging something and banning it.
I can confirm. Two of my Chinese colleagues here were trying to pull an Aprils fools joke here in the office and they were promptly taken away by the Public Security Bureau.
I think I am seeing a very interesting trend here on HN. The submissions that allow commenters to make fun of China tend to get a lot of attention than other submissions that are not strictly related to technology.<p>No coverage on terrorism or tragedies around the world, but a piece of news about a country trying to fight rumors by banning a foreign holiday gets onto the front page. If you actually study a bit about China, you would know that rumors are a huge problem and people are not cautious enough to verify them before getting tricked into believing them.<p>People just love making fun of China, aren't they?
>The ancient tradition of hoaxing and playing practical jokes on the first day of April has fallen victim to China’s crackdown.<p>Reading that the first time I thought 'hoaxing' was a chinese word.<p>How weird.
> Like democracy and free speech, it is a Western concept that simply isn’t welcome here.<p>Ironic propaganda. Analyzing soundbites requires slightly verbose context:<p><i>"Why do conservatives insist that democracy was invented in ancient Greece, and that it is somehow inherent in what they call 'Western civilization'—despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary? In the end, it’s just a way of doing what the rich and powerful always do: taking possession of the fruits of other people’s labor." [...]</i><p><i>"Democracy was not invented in ancient Greece. Granted, the word 'democracy' was invented in ancient Greece—but largely by people who didn’t like the thing itself very much. Democracy was never really 'invented' at all. Neither does it emerge from any particular intellectual tradition. It’s not even really a mode of government. In its essence it is just the belief that humans are fundamentally equal and ought to be allowed to manage their collective affairs in an egalitarian fashion, using whatever means appear most conducive. That, and the hard work of bringing arrangements based on those principles into being.</i><p><i>"In this sense democracy is as old as history, as human intelligence itself."</i><p>— David Graeber, "The Democracy Project"