In China, even aspiring singers and would-be comedians bow to constant and automatic online surveillance.
The country's largest "social video" websites — where viewers debate and reward their favorite karaoke ditties and comic routines — operate under severe yet hazy censorship policies that grant them broad leeway in deciding what content to block, according to a study co-led by Citizen Lab.
Researchers at the University of Toronto unit and the University of New Mexico reverse-engineered applications YY Inc., Tian Ge Interactive Holdings' 9158.com and Sina Show, and Guagua.cn, which together serve over 100 million people.