
It's not unheard of for the police to knock on people's doors, and for people to be put on trial, fined, and even sent to prison because of their Twitter posts in the West; the UK has for years been "a leader" in this respect.
But when this is happening in China, given the country's overall censorship policy and human rights, as well as due judicial process record, reports about people getting detained because of the things they post on social media acquire a more sinister overtone.
What many now observe is more and more "moderate" anti-government figures getting punished for their activism, while, given their low profile compared to some of the better known Chinese dissidents, their situation is all the more difficult.
Unlike big names like Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, or artist Ai Weiwei, this brand of activism on a smaller scale means less media exposure, and less likelihood of an international outcry over the treatment of people like Wang Aizhong, who remains in custody almost a year after he was first apprehended, and still awaiting trial.
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