China’s version of TikTok, Douyin, is now blocking videos in Cantonese, flagging them with an “unrecognizable language” message.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, video streams in Cantonese began being blocked midstream. The streamers said that they have been streaming to millions of viewers on Douyin for years without problems, though there were a few cases of similar interruptions in the past.
In April 2020, for example, Douyin banned a few streamers for using Cantonese, and told them to use Mandarin. At the time, ByteDance, which owns Douyin, said that it did not have enough moderators fluent in Cantonese.
China’s government treats Cantonese with hostility because the language is popular in Hong Kong and surrounding provinces. Restricting Cantonese is the government’s way of further subduing the island’s sense of independence.
The government started subduing the language by relocating a huge number of Mandarin speakers to the island. It appears the next step is forcing online platforms to censor the language.
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