China

TikTok, the viral Chinese app that may live on your high school student’s phone, serves another devious purpose. It is a propaganda tool for the Chinese government. Australian human rights activist and Uyghur Muslim Arslan Hidayat tweeted a video taken from TikTok which was allegedly posted to an official Chinese police account in the Zhangwan District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province.

A few days ago, when Lebron James whined about his team and his league’s “difficult week,” he wasn’t just flipping off Muslim Uighurs and Hong Kong freedom protesters suffering in China. He was throwing Chinese Christians under the bus too.

Facebook and its developers have been in the race to define and correct what the platform calls hate speech. But in a speech given to Georgetown University, CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested a different direction for the company.

There's no need for African American NBA players to stand with Hong Kong, not when America has far greater flaws, wrote The Shadow League blogger Carron J. Phillips. It's not their responsibility to save the world, especially a problem created by a white man, he argued. Instead, they should focus on overcoming white privilege and police brutality in America. 

By refusing to stand up for the freedom of Hong Kong against China's oppressive government, LeBron James experienced the "most disgraceful moment" of his career, says the USA Today. Other media joined in the beat-down of the Lakers' superstar, but some excused James' words by turning their venom on America.

The National Basketball Association found itself in the middle of a political firestorm of its own making when the Houston Rockets' general manager tweeted something simple and admirable: “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” The NBA’s first statement was cowardly. It began “We recognize that the views expressed by…Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which…

Apple has no problem being woke, except when it might cost the company billions of dollars. Apple removed an app, called HKmap.live, from the app store after it received criticism from the Chinese government. People’s Daily, the Chinese state newspaper, wrote a piece on Oct. 8 criticizing Apple. Two days later, Apple pulled the app down, saying it “threatens public safety.” Quartz Investigative…

The recent Chinese/NBA debacle is a time of reckoning for folks who take athlete activism seriously. In the past, superstar Golden State Warrior captain Stephen Curry has been quite vocal about status quo lefty politics and his hatred for Donald Trump, but like his coward coach, Steve Kerr, the outspoken can’t star seem to find an answer when asked about actual oppression from the NBA’s business…

The NBA sure talks a good game about free speech rights ― out of one side of its collective mouth. Amidst China's seething anger over Houston general manager Daryl Morey expressing support for freedom in Hong Kong, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mildly defended the American's free speech rights. But on Tuesday night, two fans were ejected from an NBA exhibition game in Philadelphia for peacefully…

Unlike some other businesses and corporations, South Park and Comedy Central aren't afraid of offending Communist China. In fact, they doubled down in Wednesday night's episode "SHOTS!!!" by having a major character shout, "[Bleep] the Chinese government!"

Video game industry legend Mark Kern disavowed Blizzard for kowtowing to Chinese censorship, encouraging gamers to “rise up” and “#BoycottBlizzard.” Kern, who grew up in Asia, was involved in some of Blizzard Entertainment’s most famous games. He worked as a producer for demon-slaying epic “Diablo 2” and as a team lead on “World of Warcraft.”

Remember way back in 2018 when “Shut up and dribble” was a horrible thing to say to millionaire athletes who are paid to, er, dribble? Times sure have changed. (Or maybe the phrase sounds better said with a Chinese accent?) Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock remembers that too, which is why he said on Speak for Yourself Tuesday, “The NBA is strangling on its own hypocrisy.” He was speaking, of course,…

The NBA isn't the only organization drawing criticism for the China-Daryl Morey controversy. ESPN now looks like the Worldwide Leader In Sports Compromisers, as its television commentators treat the controversy with kid gloves. Deadspin's Laura Wagner points out that ESPN has a working agreement with Tencent, a large Chinese internet company that covers the NBA, and may not want to anger its…