UK super band Radiohead have set up their very own “weibo” account in China, which, translated into English, means “microblog.”
The group started a page on what’s considered to be China’s Twitter equivalent (Sina Weibo).
“Testing the weibo,” the band said in their first comment on the social networking site. The account has been confirmed as legitimate, not an imposter posting as the group.
In the past the band led by singer Thom Yorke has been critical of human rights in China and performed at Free Tibet concerts. .
Radiohead’s first entry was re-posted 10,000 times and received almost 4,000 comments. The group’s account also has roughly 49,000 followers.
Many believe the move to create this weibo page is quite peculiar given how critical the band have been of the Chinese government regarding their position on censorship and Tibet.
Just Last December, Radiohead posted a note on their site asking fans to join the movement to free Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, writing: “You know it makes sense.”
China blocks access to Twitter and other foreign social networking sites, including Facebook and YouTube, due to government fears that it could be used to attack or scrutinize political bodies.
This has provided Sina Weibo a huge advantage in China, and it has attracted 140 million registered users. With just over 10 percent of users based outside of China.
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