"China’s WeChat censoring ‘sensitive’ photos, not just text, study shows", 13 Apr 2017

China’s popular instant messaging app WeChat [owned by Tencent] is filtering not only keywords, but also images deemed sensitive, without users’ knowledge, according to researchers…from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab…Citizen Lab looked at the censorship of images related to the “709 crackdown” on the Moments feature on the social media platform, similar to the Timeline on Facebook user’s profiles…

The researchers found 58 image search results for the Chinese term for “709 Crackdown” triggered censorship on Moments. The images blocked included infographics on the crackdown, profile sketches of affected lawyers and their relatives, or images of protesters holding placards accusing the authorities of torturing one of the attorneys.

If an image posted by a user is censored, it does not appear on the feeds of their friends and both will have no idea that the content has been censored as no notification is given…The Chinese government has repeatedly said it must have the right to manage online content deemed harmful. The team identified 44 keywords that were banned in group chat on the app, including the names of 13 people affected in the crackdown, including lawyers and their wives.