Private social audio app Clubhouse is attracting masses of new users from China, where the US app remains uncensored by authorities despite flourishing discussions on rights, national identity and other sensitive topics.
Western social media apps including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are banned in China, where the local Internet is tightly censored to weed out content that could undermine the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
The Clubhouse app, launched early last year, saw explosive growth in user numbers earlier this month after Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev held a surprise discussion on the platform.
Photo: AFP
Its chat rooms are only accessible via invites from members, and as of yesterday, invites to the platform were selling for 50 yuan to 400 yuan (US$7.73 to US$61.86) on popular Chinese e-commerce sites.
Reuters observed several Chinese-language “club” conversations where thousands of users listened to wide-ranging audio discussions covering topics including detention camps in Xinjiang, Taiwan independence and Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
China’s cyberauthorities have become increasingly strict in the past few years, widening the scope of apps, media outlets and social media sites banned in the country.
While Clubhouse remains uncensored, it is only available on iOS devices and is unavailable in the local Apple app store, both major barriers for its widespread use in China.
Chinese users can access the app by modifying the location of their app store.
It is unclear why the app remains unblocked in China, although some foreign social sites with small Chinese followings manage to operate under the radar of censors, including 8kun, a central hub for QAnon followers.
In one club chat centered on Hong Kong politics, activists, journalists and artists discussed former US president Trump and his support base in the former colony.
Another popular Chinese-language club on the site as of Saturday involved a rare open exchange between people in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong over heightened political tensions in the region.
The discussion became a hot topic on China’s own social media site Sina Weibo the same day.
“I don’t know how long this environment can last, but I will definitely remember this moment in Internet history,” said one user in a popular Weibo post that was liked more than 65,000 times.
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