Coded anxiety and social dissent in Chinese internet slang amidst extensive surveillance

Abstract

This paper examines the social impact of extensive surveillance on online posts in China's digital media landscape. By focusing on some of the most prevalent internet slang, the present study aims to understand the major concerns of contemporary Chinese society. Data were collected over a period of 12 months on Weibo and Douyin, two of China's most influential social media platforms. A questionnaire survey and semistructured interviews were also conducted with Chinese netizens. Grounded in the computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) approach, this study explores two research questions: (1) how linguistic creativity acts as both a means of evasion and a tool for self-censorship and (2) how online expressions reveal coded anxiety and social dissent. On the one hand, findings suggest that internet slang appears to allow voices of distress and critique to be heard amidst the complexities of state regulations and social dynamics. On the other hand, coded slang is both a survival strategy and a symptom of deeper limits on civic expression. While this study cannot confirm whether slang is intentionally used to evade censorship, future research may benefit from this study by focusing on the possible link between surveillance and slang as a strategy for symbolic resistance.