I am devastated by the news that Naomi Wu aka SexyCyborg has been silenced by the Chinese authorities.
She represents so many things that the world desperately needs: competence, confidence, ability to communicate, ability to cross cultures and languages, shattering of old stereotypes, a positive view of the future, and much more.
The repressive old guard should put itself away instead. In China and here because similar people are coming for the Naomis here, too.
@J12t This is a crying shame. Naomi Wu is a global (as opposed to national) treasure.
A cultural icon, and was (to my mind) an ambassador for China - well, for the Chinese people, not the CCP. I wish her well.
@J12t Wow... so sad to read this. Naomi was a constant presence on my Twitter (RIP) feed as well back in the day. Her perspective on China was refreshing and she often battled reply guys and know-it-alls with grace and humour. What a shame.
Yeah, I loved her explanations about life in China and cultural wrinkles that us in the west never really think about. And that's besides her fun projects and deeply technical tech videos.
But, she had warned many times something like this could happen to her, because that's how China rolls. Sad to see it. I miss her voice on things.
@J12t That's distressing. I have a lot of admiration for her, she has many excellent qualities, as you say, and she does cool projects. I hope she's okay. "Wings clipped" sounds very ominous. :(
@J12t > a significant portion of western media may be increasingly compromised by Beijing's influence, finding themselves unable to criticize foreign policy, lest they rile the tiger and negatively impact their business
This highlights a fundamental conflict of interest that should result in banning any such funding.
@J12t@doppioslash here is something I want non-Chinese observers to understand: Chinese government do not pick and choose when it comes to silencing troublemakers.
As long as you are loud enough and is making noise without official approval, even if you are a nationalist and voicing pro-China messages, you will be visited by police.
(I say this as I knew she explicitly avoid criticizing the state too much and do tend to favorite conservative opinions like those from Hu Xijin.)
@ee11a5dff40c19a555f41fe42b48f0@mostr.pub and that matters how? I, for one, shamelessly expose my bare chest around swimming pools that was entirely out of the question in many cultures at many times.
@J12t What?! Very sad to hear 😔 Hope she can figure a way out of the mess and into a good life for herself. She is one of my top 3 femmes in a Women in Tech article I wrote some time ago 🩷 https://www.elektormagazine.com/articles/women-in-tech
@J12t The article by @hackingbutlegal is terrific — and chilling, as is what appears to have happened to Naomi Wu. I'm not sure what there is that any of us can do outside of 🇨🇳 either as individuals or collectively (not much, sadly, I'm afraid), but raising awareness through hashtags here on Mastodon seems right. I don't know what the #HumanRights community is like on here.
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