‘China’s President Xi Jinping has called for tightened control over online discussion and increased policing to ensure “positive energy” and social stability according to state media, Bloomberg reported. This is being pushed as Chinese scientists in South Beijing have said the virus’ origin was the long-suspected Wuhan Virology lab or another Wuhan Center for Disease Control lab.
The government must “strengthen the management and control of online media,” and “crack down on those who seize the opportunity to create rumors” on the internet, Xi said.
“It is necessary to increase use of police force and strengthen the visible use of police,” Xi said, calling for a crackdown on behavior that “disrupts social order” including hoarding medical supplies. This is amid a lockdown of over 400 million people forbidden from leaving the country and in some cases even their own homes. Xi’s call to police the internet comes after a Chinese professor, Xu Zhangrun, published a rare public critique of President Xi Jinping over China’s coronavirus crisis. The man was then placed under house arrest after his report according to the Guardian.’
