China's rubber ducks: Tanks into ducks

1989's "tank man" reborn as "rubber duck" man in 2013 on the internet but Chinese govt may not like so he was deleted.

Tank man of 1989 meets big rubber ducks of 2013.

Click button to listen to China Bans Yellow Duck Image download 

CENSORSHIP

Chinese site bans 'yellow duck' search

6 Jun 2013
Online Reporters

Original "tank man" photograph from the 1989 Tianamen protests in China.

A popular Chinese microblogging service banned searches for "yellow duck" after users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 Tiananmen square tank protest with the military vehicles replaced by plastic ducks, results on Wednesday showed.

The picture, a parody of the iconic "Tank Man" photograph of a civilian staring down a long row of tanks, circulated Tuesday, the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests' suppression.

The original photoshopped image was uploaded to the micro-blogging site Weibo, China's version of Twitter. 

A large yellow duck artwork is currently on display in Hong Kong, and imitations have been put up in several mainland cities.

Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblogging site, blocked searches for "yellow duck", with attempts to do so returning a message reading: "Due to relevant laws and regulations... the search result is not displayed."

A modern rubber duck.

Other search terms banned by the service include "1989" and numerical formulae such as "63 + 1", used to refer to the date of the crackdown -- "6.4" in US-style date order, which is also blocked. 

Discussion of the Tiananmen crackdown, in which at least several hundred people died, is strictly controlled by China's ruling Communist party, which is wary of challenges to its authority. 

Reports say that Sina, the company which runs Sina Weibo, employs teams of censors to delete posts, generally exercising self-censorship rather than receiving direct instructions from the Party.

(Source: Bangkok Post, CENSORSHIP, Chinese site bans 'yellow duck' search, 6 Jun 2013, Online Reporters, link)

 
Censorship Vocabulary 

rubber duck - a toy shaped like a duck that floats in a children's tub made of rubber: "has achieved an iconic status in Western pop culture and is often symbolically linked to bathing" (See Wikipedia)

censorship - when the government officially examines and cut out things from writing (video, images, web, etc) before it is released to the public การตรวจสอบสื่อต่างๆ เพื่อตัดส่วนที่ไม่เหมาะสมออก (See Wikipedia)

censor (verb) - to order pieces to be cut out of articles, videos, films, etc
censor web content - internet censorship (See Wikipedia)

censor (noun) - a government official who makes censorship decisions
teams of censors

self-censorship - cutting things out of your own writing (or video, film, etc) to avoid official government censorship (See Wikipedia)
exercising self-censorship - doing self-censorship

Tiananmen square protests of 1989 -  student-led protests in Beijing in the spring of 1989 which "received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or the June 4 Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted thousands of casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military’s advance on Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which student demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The scale of military mobilization and the resulting bloodshed were unprecedented in the history of Beijing, a city with a rich tradition of popular protests in the 20th century" (See Wikipedia)

tank man - "Tank Man, or the Unknown Protester, is the nickname of an anonymous man who stood in front of a column of Chinese Type 59 tanks the morning after the Chinese military forcibly removed protesters from in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man achieved widespread international recognition due to the videotape and photographs taken of the incident."  (See Wikipedia)

the Big Yellow Duck - "the censored search terms used to see a photoshopped version of Tank Man, which swapped all tanks with the sculpture Rubber Duck circulating around Twitter" (See Wikipedia)

tank - an armoured vehicle that fires weapons and guns รถถัง
protest - a gathering of people to show disagreement with something ประท้วง
tank protest

1989 Tiananmen square tank protest

search - to look somewhere carefully in order to find something ค้นหา
search engine - โปรแกรมค้นหา, ใช้สำหรับค้นหาเว็บเพจที่ต้องการ โดยระบุคำหลักหรือคำสำคัญ (keyword) เพื่อนำไปค้นในฐานข้อมูลขนาดใหญ่ ซึ่งรวบรวมเว็บเพจต่างๆ ผลลัพธ์ที่ได้จะเป็นรายการเว็บเพจที่ประกอบด้วยคำหลักที่ระบุ ช่วยให้เราสามารถเข้าถึงข้อมูลทุกประเภท หลากหลายรูปแบบ เพื่อการศึกษาห (See Wikipedia)

block - stop someone from passing or going through a place or stop from doing something ปิดทาง, ดักหน้า, สกัด
block search

ban - officially prevent from doing something ห้าม ห้างอย่างเด็ดขาด ถูกห้าม  ห้ามอย่างเป็นทางการ ถูกตัดสิทธิ
ban search

site - Same as "website" 
Chinese site

Chinese site bans 'yellow duck' search

microblog - a blog with very short articles (entries, postings) including a few sentences, an image or a video (See Wikipedia)
microblogging in China - (See Wikipedia)

microblogging site
microblogging service
a popular Chinese microblogging service

Weibo - the most popular microblogging site in China, sort of a combination of Twitter & facebook (See Wikipedia)
Twitter - the most popular microblogging site in the US (See Wikipedia)

banned searches for "yellow duck"

mock-up - a copy of something that looks a lot like it (the original)
image - any picture, especially one formed by a mirror or a lens ภาพ
mocked-up image

circulate - make go around to many places (so that many people see it) (example: circulate a memo around the office so that everyone can read it)
circulate a mocked-up image

vehicles - machines with an engine used to carry people or goods from place to place ยานพาหนะ
military vehicles - such as "tanks"
military vehicles replaced by plastic ducks

search results - what you get from a search (usually a list of links to web content)
results - 1. search results; 2. what is produced in the end by an activity or task
results showed

users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 Tiananmen square tank protest with the military vehicles replaced by plastic ducks, results on Wednesday showed.

A popular Chinese microblogging service banned searches for "yellow duck" after users circulated a mocked-up image of a famous 1989 Tiananmen square tank protest with the military vehicles replaced by plastic ducks, results on Wednesday showed.

parody - writing or film that copies a famous work in a funny way, making fun of it ล้อเลียน; การเขียนล้อเลียน (See Wikipedia)

icon (noun) - a very  famous person or this that represents some idea รูปเคารพ
iconic (adjective) - very famous and well-known (representing some idea)
a parody of the iconic "Tank Man" photograph

civilian - of someone who does not belong to the armed forces or the police พลเรือน
staring down - looking at something a long time (stare) to show that you are not afraid of it
a civilian staring down a long row of tanks

suppression -  stop an activity; stopping and preventing an activity from continuing by using force การระงับ การปราบปราม stopping opposition or protests using force or strict laws; crackdown การใช้กำลังเข้าปราบปรามของเจ้าหน้าที่ the process of stopping a harmful activity through laws or by force การใช้กฎหมายหรือกำลังยุติกระบวนการ หรือความรุนแรง

suppression of protest
the Tiananmen protests' suppression

anniversary - a date when you celebrate something that happened in a previous year that is important to you วันครบรอบ
the 24th anniversary 

the image circulated on the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests' suppression

The picture, a parody of the iconic "Tank Man" photograph of a civilian staring down a long row of tanks, circulated Tuesday, the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests' suppression.

original - the first things that copies were made from ต้นฉบับ
photoshopped - when a photo was changed using the Photoshop computer program

image - a picture or photo of something ภาพ
the original photoshopped image

uploaded to the micro-blogging site

The original photoshopped image was uploaded to the micro-blogging site Weibo, China's version of Twitter. 

imitation - a copy or fake, something that made to look the same as the real thing การเลียนแบบ, ของเลียนแบบ, ของปลอม

A large yellow duck artwork is currently on display in Hong Kong, and imitations have been put up in several mainland cities.

blocked - stopped, prevented from happening a nomination
blocked searches for "yellow duck"

relevant - directly connected and important to what is being discussed or considered ที่เกี่ยวข้อง  ที่เกี่ยวข้องโดยตรง
regulations - official rules that control the way that things are done ระเบียบปฏิบัติ  ระเบียบ ข้อบังคับ  กฎระเบียบ
relevant laws and regulations

Sina Weibo, China's most popular microblogging site, blocked searches for "yellow duck", with attempts to do so returning a message reading: "Due to relevant laws and regulations... the search result is not displayed."

terms - words and phrases used to describe something
crackdown - strong action that someone in authority takes to stop some activity การใช้กำลังเข้าปราบปรามของเจ้าหน้าที่ การใช้กำลังสลายผู้ประท้วง การปราบจลาจล การปราบปรามขั้นเด็ดขาด

Other search terms banned by the service include "1989" and numerical formulae such as "63 + 1", used to refer to the date of the crackdown -- "6.4" in US-style date order, which is also blocked. 

strictly - in a very limited or limiting way;  completely อย่างเข้มงวด
strictly controlled by China's ruling Communist party

authority - power อำนาจ the power to make decisions, tell people what to do and control events อำนาจ, อำนาจในการสั่งการ
challenge to authority

wary - careful or nervous about someone or something because you think they might cause a problem ระมัดระวัง
wary of challenges to its authority

Discussion of the Tiananmen crackdown, in which at least several hundred people died, is strictly controlled by China's ruling Communist party, which is wary of challenges to its authority. 

post - an article that has been published or displayed on a website that people can see and read
delete posts
employs teams of censors to delete posts

generally - ส่วนมาก, โดยทั่วไป, โดยปกติ
generally exercising self-censorship

instructions - words that describe or explain how to do something (example: bicycle assembly instructions) คำแนะนำการใช้, ข้อแนะนำการใช้, ข้อปฏิบัติ
direct instructions - instructions that come straight from someone (not going through other people before they reach you) 
direct instructions from the Party

Reports say that Sina, the company which runs Sina Weibo, employs teams of censors to delete posts, generally exercising self-censorship rather than receiving direct instructions from the Party.