Internet users have applied nicknames such as “teletubby”, “instant noodle” and “tomato” whilst discussing political figures on online platforms, and although this use of code language may be considered as just a bit of fun, it has been suggested that it breaches certain rules and regulations, and consequently, some posts were deleted.
This forms an interesting debate as it questions the usage of blogs – should online users be entitled to freely express their opinion (whether that may be via nicknames) or should there be stricter guidelines on what can be posted? This concerns the issue of rules and regulations; blogging is meant to provide people with the opportunity to express themselves through writing, but should our freedom of speech be overruled by monitoring systems and certain principles? I personally think that bloggers should express their thoughts creatively, but the usage of code words isn’t necessary as it can cause confusion.
This is the link where the full article can be found: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/22/china-microbloggers-teletubbies
