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A voice for the voiceless: online social activism in Uyghur language blogs and state control of the Internet in China
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A voice for the voiceless: online social activism in Uyghur language blogs and state control of the Internet in China

Rebecca A. Clothey, Emmanuel F. Koku, Erfan Erkin and Husenjan Emat
Information, communication & society, v 19(6), pp 858-874
02 Jun 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1061577

Abstract

Communication Social Sciences Sociology
Much has been written in recent years about Chinese online activism. Although in China Internet use is officially regulated and censored, China nevertheless has the world's largest number of Internet users, with blogs being the largest communication platform. However, most of the research on Chinese use of social media to date has focused specifically on Chinese language Internet sources, with little attention paid to online activity among any of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minority groups, such as the Uyghurs. Uyghurs are an ethnic group native to China's northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They speak Uyghur language natively, a Turkic language that utilizes an Arabic script, and most are Moslems. As the largest ethnic group within a region of China noted as among China's most politically sensitive, the Uyghurs provide a rich source for study of the use of the Internet by a potentially contentious group. This research thus seeks to fill a gap in the literature by addressing the question: In what ways do Uyghurs utilize social media as a form of online activism? The findings show that in Uyghur blogs, comments are often posted using veiled language such as metaphors, sarcasm, and humor, or references to traditional Uyghur sayings and culture practices as a means of expressing subversive political communication, in an indirect way.

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Web of Science research areas
Communication
Sociology
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