Weibo backs down over gay censorship

One of China’s top social networking sites announced yesterday that it will no longer be censoring content related to gay issues after the plan triggered a loud public outcry.

Weibo.com was flooded over the weekend with the hashtags “#I’mgay” and “#I’mgaynotapervert” after the Twitter-like platform said that cartoons and short videos with pornographic, violent or gay subject matter would be investigated over a threemonth period.

The microblogging site, which saw its Nasdaq shares fall on Friday, said in its amended post: “This clean-up of games and cartoons will no longer target gay content.”

A spokesman refused to clarify how the platform would treat short videos with gay content. The investigation will instead “primarily focus on pornographic and violent material”. Weibo’s statement said. “Thank you everyone for your discussions and suggestions.”

The firm previously said it was acting in accordance with cybersecurity laws.