By Oiwan Lam

What would happen if China unblocked Facebook?

Around midnight on November 11, Internet users from mainland China were able to log into Facebook without using circumvention tools briefly for approximately two days. The world’s largest social networking site has been blocked in China since 2009, along with YouTube and Twitter.

Shortly after they were able to log in, a flurry of posts and comments attacking Taiwan presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen appeared. Tsai will represent Taiwan’s opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party in the 2016 election. The island state of Taiwan is politically autonomous from China.

Taiwanese tech circles believe that the attacks were the result of a test by Chinese government authorities to see what would happen if they did unblock Facebook.

According to a discussion on PTT, Taiwan’s largest online bulletin board system community, mainland Chinese authorities opened a gateway to Facebook from within the country’s education networks around midnight on November 11.

By 11 a.m., all mainland netizens could visit Facebook directly. Open access to Facebook lasted for two days, until 11 p.m. on November 13.

Pro-Chinese government trolls, also commonly known as the 50 Cent Party, were among the first to log into Facebook. They soon started targeting Tsai Ing-wen.

Tsai Ing-Wen. Photo: Wikicommons.

Within 12 hours from 12 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on November 11, roughly 64,000 comments had been added to an event post from Tsai’s campaign calling for submissions to their 3D piggy bank design contest. Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party rely on small donations from grassroots supporters, referred to as “piggy bank” fundraising.

Although only 354 Facebook users were invited to the event, Tsai’s particular status update ended the day with 196,491 comments on November 16. Other posts from Tsai were also flooded with comments from mainland Chinese netizens, often using curse words and insults. Many accused Tsai of working for Japan and the United States. On average, Tsai’s posts on Facebook generate around 3,000 comments.

‘Welcome, all of you, to the world of Facebook!’

China has considered Taiwan to be a rogue territory since the Kuomintang (KMT) party retreated to the island in the late 1940s following defeat in the Chinese civil war against communists. Although the mainland has no control over the autonomous state of Taiwan, in the past Beijing authorities have threatened to forcibly retake Taiwan if it were to formalise its independence.

The ruling KMT party has made efforts to improve relations with China over the last decade, which some Taiwanese worry could put Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy in jeopardy. Tsai and her party are poised to challenge the KMT’s hold on the government.

Far from being irritated by the Facebook attacks, Tsai welcomed the visits:

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[mks_tab_item title=”Translation”]Last night, many “online friends” from across the strait flooded my Facebook page. I want to “welcome” them.

In Taiwan, this is the major platform for people to comment on current affairs or even organize citizen action. The diversity of opinions and voices enhances exchanges and debates, which helps society move forward.

I wish this precious experience can help our “new friends” see the full picture of Taiwan’s democracy, freedom and diversity. Welcome, all of you, to the world of Facebook![/mks_tab_item]

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昨天晚上，有眾多對岸的「網友」滑到我的臉書頁，對此，我表示「歡迎光臨」。

在臺灣，有許多對時政的討論、甚至公民行動，都是透過這個平台，由人民自主組織起來的；不同的意見、多元的聲音，也讓我們在交流論辯中，一步步往更美好的社會前進。

希望這難得的全新體驗，可以讓「新朋友」更完整的看見民主、自由、多元的臺灣。歡迎大家來到臉書的世界！[/mks_tab_item]

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Wang Dan, an ex-student leader of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square who currently resides in Taiwan, also faced attacks from mainland Chinese tolls after he commented on the temporary lifting of the Facebook block on November 12:

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[mks_tab_item title=”Translation”]How can it be possible that China has lifted the Facebook ban?! Don’t be naive.

If it were fully open, how come all the people flooded Tsai Ing-wen’s page rather than other places? This is obviously an organised online attack. I have no idea what the intention behind it is. But it has nothing to do with the Facebook ban being fully lifted.[/mks_tab_item]

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中國怎麼可能真的開放臉書呢？！別傻了各位。

如果真的開放，怎麼出來的人都去小英那裡，而不去別的地方鬧呢？這擺明了是中國當局有組織的的網絡進攻行為，目的是什麼還不清楚。但是跟全面開放中國人民上臉書，半毛錢的關係也沒有。[/mks_tab_item]

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‘The 50 Cent Party wants to drive people away’

Two days later, Wang Dan had a new theory behind the Chinese government’s motives for unblocking Facebook:

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Recently, the Chinese Communist Party released its Internet Water Army to flood Facebook. Its intention is becoming clear. They know that sooner or later they will have to open up the Internet or they cannot join free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Before they open up, they have to ruin the online platform for the free world (in particular the Chinese-speaking Internet), so that those who don’t like dirty language and 50 Cent Party members will stop using Facebook and abandon the platform. Otherwise, they would not intentionally leave so many different kinds of curse words in every single post. […]

Remember, the 50 Cent Party wants to drive people away. Don’t fall for their tricks.

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最近中共放出水軍來淹沒臉書，用心很清楚，就是因為他們知道早晚要開放網絡，不然無法加入TPP這樣的自由貿易協定。所以在被迫開放之前，他們就要把現有的自由世界的網絡（尤其是華人的網絡世界）搞得烏七八糟，讓那些有潔癖，不願意搭理五毛的人，不想再用臉書。否則他們就不會每一篇都故意用各種髒話洗版了。[…]

但是不管怎樣，一定要記住，現在五毛們上來的目的，就是要大家都離開。大家不要上當。[/mks_tab_item]

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Wang’s speculation was not entirely off-base. Several supporters of an open Internet became irritated by the online tolls and commented that they would prefer Facebook to be blocked in China.

A photo satirising the ’50 Cent Army.’ Photo: China Uncensored.

The temporary lifting of the technical block on Facebook raises the question of how China might foster a more open Internet and promote norms of rational and civilized discussion. This could be a considerable challenge in an environment where scores of users work hand-in-hand with their government and view online exchanges as a weapon of ideological warfare at the national level. The example of the popular Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo is instructive here. When authorities began censoring sensitive comments and patrolling the network with millions of “civilization volunteers” coordinated by the Chinese Communist Youth League, critical public discussion dropped and many users left the platform altogether.

If the Chinese government wants to protect Internet users being silenced by organized trolls, regardless of their political positions, it will need to find a way to bring democratic and transparent governance to online platforms, with strong representation from user communities in place. Otherwise, the Internet risks devolving into a wasteland deprived of meaningful public deliberation.