LGBTQ Social Media Groups at Most Major Chinese Universities Shuttered Overnight

Tencent’s WeChat social media platform on Tuesday evening blocked and wiped all past content of the accounts for the campus LGBTQ groups of China’s top universities, striking a major blow against LGBTQ awareness and rights. Many campus LGBTQ clubs have never been officially recognized or condoned, but have been able to operate unofficially for years under the radar, posting content online and carrying out certain activities when possible amidst periodic crackdowns. Late Tuesday evening, however, users unexpectedly found that the social media accounts for most such groups and even gender-related academic research associations had been wiped from the web. They now all display the message: “In response to related complaints, all content has been blocked for violating the ‘Regulations on the Management of Internet User Official Account Information Services,’ and all usage of the account has been suspended.”