Eye-field

目田 (mù tián) eye-field

If two small strokes are added to the top of each of these characters, they become 自由 (zìyóu), the Chinese word for “freedom.” Together, the characters have come to represent “freedom” decapitated. The term was originated by players of the game World of Warcraft, immensely popular in China. In September of 2010, users of the game were dismayed to learn that many words were being blocked, including some that were part of their online characters' names. This caused difficulty logging in, annoying many who had spent considerable time developing their characters. “Freedom” was among the newly-blocked words, and "eye-field" was used as both a substitute and a veiled jab at the government.

<feed url="feed://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/internet-freedom/feed/" entries="5">

[{PERMALINK} {TITLE}]

{DATE}, by {AUTHOR} </feed>