Визуальный Интернет-юмор, как фактор

Table 2. Deleted Images

(source: ProPublica, https://projects.propublica.org/weibo/)

Picture	Semiotic analysis	Punctum	Structural analysis	Discursive analysis	Group
1	Indices: rope, dancing moves Symbols: dragon, red beckground	-	Huge Bo Xilai as opposed to small workers	Bo Xilai's trial	Critique of officials
2	Icons: soldier Symbols: fire	-	Stalin is portrayed as being bigger than Mao, Mao - being bigger than the soldier	Korean War historic backround	History
3	Indices: law book, photo camera, glasses, covered mouths Symbols:red background, blurred figure	-	The ghost-like fidure is huge - has a lot of power	Censorship regulations	Censorship
4	Indices: brush, 'toad'-glasses, lead, open flies, flies, swewrage Symbols: number 5	-	Old Jiang Zemin-like child is shorter than the image of Putin	Chinese government practice of hiring Internet cpmmentators; Critique of Putin's politics	Society
5	Indices: graduation hat, knife, prison Symbols: sheep, wolf	-	-	The case of activist Xu Zhiyong; Popular cartoon Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf	Censorship
6	Icons: people silhouettes Indices: line between people and the man above	-	The man has people as his base	The case of activist Xu Zhiyong	Censorship
7	Indices: umbrella	-	-	?	Unrelated
8	Indices: smile, Mao's quotation Symbols: wolf, three watches,	-	-	Corruption	Critique of officials
9	Indices: glasses, money Symbols: wolf's tail, red pillow, yellow bone, wolf legs	-	-	Corruption	Critique of officials
10	Indices: stick, glasses Symbols: sheep, horns,	-	Equality of the sheep, horns making a sheep unequal to others; man dominating the sheep	Communist ideology	Political system
11	Indices: gravestone Symbols: red cross emblem, flower	-	-	Blood donors in China not paid by the Red Cross	International organizations
12	Icons: boy	-	-	Chinese government practice of hiring Internet cpmmentators	Censorship
13	Symbols: turtle	-	-	Corruption	Critique of officials
14	Icons: man's silhouette Symbols: characters for 'fart'	-	-	Historical background; Policy of the Chinese government	Political system
15	Symbols: official government seal, red color, wall	-	-	Corruption	Political system
16	Indices: two hands - quick movements, widely open mouth	-	-	Corruption	Political system
17	Icons: nurse Indices: dog	-	-	Drawbacks of healthcare system	Political system
18	Indices: picking up one's nose	-	-	Chinese officials	Foreign affairs
19	Indices: yawning	-	-	Xinhua News agency's critique of the intellectuals	Media
20	Icons: bomb Indices: direction to the US, patched surface, urine, tears, eyes in the dark, tail as a nuclear cloud Symbols: dog, lead, hand gesure	-	North Korean leader being a dog of Xi Jinping stands for the subordinate status of North Korea; North Korea urinating on the US Secretary of State shows its relative status and attitude	North Korean nuclear bomb development; China-North Korea relations; North Korea-US relations	Foreign affairs
21	Indices: covered eyes and mouth	-	-	Censorship regulations	Censorship
22	Symbols: red background, symbol of Weibo account name	-	-	Visualization of wordplay	Censorship
23	Indices: lying on the back, hands on the belly Symbols: toad	-	-	High-rank corrupted officials are called toads	Critique of officials
24	Indices: heart symbols in the eyes, finger near man's mouth	-	-	Xinhua News agency's denial of the notorious practice of drinking human breast milk spread among officials	Critique of officials
25	Indices: hand hesture, spear, uniform	-	-	Historical beckground: Yue Fei, the Emperor's military officer defending the country, being combpared to Bo Xilai	Critique of officials
26	Indices: chains, traditional Beijing opera posture, torn clothes, red stains	-	-	News updates about Bo Xilai's behavior in prison after the trial	Critique of officials
27	Indices: hand hesture, spear, uniform Symbols: red hood	-	-	Historical beckground: Yue Fei, the Emperor's military officer defending the country, being combpared to Bo Xilai	Critique of officials
28	Indices: hands, loud-speaker, gun	-	-	Freedom of speech restriction	Censorship
29	Indices: umbrella Symbols: toad	-	-	High-rank corrupted officials are called toads	Society
30	Icons: Xi Jinping's image on the breast Indices: Symbols: red bra,	Woman's breast	-	Concept of China Dream	Political system
31	Indices: official's hat, golden bars, cameras, pig Symbols: snakes	-	-	Corruption; Ecologic situation, food safety regulation; medical service	Political system
32	Indices: hand gesture of greeting, women Symbols: red color	-	Janitor and Obama are both standing, the hand gesture indicates their equality; Chinese official is seated, surrounded by 6 standing women dressed in a uniform	Chinese traditional social hierarchy	Political system

Table 3. Deleted Images

(source: WeiboScope, https:// weiboscope.jmsc.hku.hk/)

Picture	Semiotic analysis	Punctum	Structural analysis	Discursive analysis	Group
1	Indices: a drop of sweat, frown, differently sized eyes	-	Mao is taller	Kong Qingdong's opinion on the people of Hong Kong	Leaders
2	Indices: the way people look at their partners	-	Analogy: lovers	Popular Internet trend in China: 喜不喜欢一个人，一个眼神就够了 - 'One look is enough to know if one person likes another one'.	Leaders
3	Indices: airplane	-	Deng and Xi as equals	Xi Jinping's campaign for building China's own aircrafts	Leaders
4	Symbols: dog, pig	-	-	Police officer's offensive behavior in Sichuan province	Society
5	Indices: fist Symbols: red flags	-	-	Bo Xilai's case	Critique of officials
6	Indices: traditional clothes Symbols: colors	-	Pyramidal structure: the higher, the more powerful	Polytical system of China	Political system
7	Indices: traditional uigur hat, smile	-	-	Separatist movement in Xinjiang	Inner territorial conflicts
8	Icons: leaders of Russia and China Symbols: flags	-	Standing in the background - seems that they are less important	Natural gas deal	Foreign affairs
9	Icons: kitten Indices: hands up	-	The kitten is a minor to a human	Freedom of speech debates	Censorship
10	Indices: a peacock	The peacock	-	???	History
11	Indices: long tongue, axe, prison	-	-	Freedom of speech debates	Censorship
12	Symbols: polar bear, panda	-	Sexual relationship between the bear and the panda, the bear is in a dominating position	Strengthening of strategic partnership between Russia and China	Foreign affairs
13	Indices: hairstyle, jacket	-	-	Meeting in Shanghai for the signing of a gas contract	Foreign affairs
14	Indices: gun, worn-out clothes	-	-	Separatism and armed conflicts in Xinjiang	Inner territorial conflicts
15	Symbols: look	-	Lovers	Reference to the previously deleted post	Foreign affairs
16	Indices: rope, mouth, penis	-	-	Inernet regulation policy and debates	Censorship
17	Indices: thumb up, Mao's cap	-	-	Corruption	Critique of officials
18	Indices: hammer, sickle, red necktie, blood	-	-	Chinese history	Censorship
19	Indices: red cheeks, smile	-	-	Chinese-Russian relations	Foreign affairs
20	Indices: towel Symbols: trollface	-	-	TV broadcasters leaving television	Censorship
21	Indices: jumping rope Symbols: tiger, rat	-	-	Wen Jiabao's visit to school	Leaders
22	Indices: jumping rope	Jumping Wen Jiabao	-	Wen Jiabao's visit to school	Leaders
23	Symbols: numbers	-	covered face and distance from a policeman	Tian'anmen events	History
24	Indices: tanks	-	-	Tian'anmen events; Most famous photo of June 04, 1989	History
25	Indices: a person with bags, a knit tank	-	Small man is opposed to a huge tank	Tian'anmen events; Most famous photo of June 04, 1989	History
26	Icons: grey-colored people Indices: blood, club Symbols: McDonald's clown	-	-	School incident	Society
27	Indices: direction sign	-	-	Falun Gong sect	Society
28	Indices: hand gestures, smiling faces	Hand gestures	Same size, almost the same position - equality	Natural gas deal; Russia-Ukraine relations	Foreign affairs
29	Indices: hand gestures, fan, traditional garment, jumping	-	-	Wen Jiabao's visit to school	Leaders

Appendix V. Examples of Images Analyzed

Fig. 1. Category: Censorship. Source: China Digital Times	Fig. 2. Category: Critique of Officials. Source: China Digital Times
Fig. 3. Category: Society. Source: China Digital Times	Fig. 4. Category: Media. Source: China Digital Times
Fig. 5. Category: Political system. Source: China Digital Times	Fig. 6. Category: Censorship. Source: China Digital Times
Fig. 7. Category: Gistory. Source: ProPublica	Fig. 8. Category: Society. Source: ProPublica
Fig. 9. Category: Critique of Officials. Source: ProPublica	Fig. 10. Category: Censorship. Source: ProPublica
Fig. 11. Category: Leaders. Source: WeiboScope	Fig. 12. Category: Leaders. Source: WeiboScope
Fig. 13. Category: Foreign affairs. Source: WeiboScope	Fig. 14. Category: Leaders. Source: WeiboScope

1^ Here and further in the text by China the mainland China without Macau, Hong-Kong and Taiwan is meant.

2

3^ According to the official website of China Internet Network Information Center, China leaves the possibility of the complete ban on the access to foreign Internet resources leaving only the access to domestic network: ‘In the event of special incidents in the future, foreign domain name companies will no longer provide domain name resolution service for Chinese users and foreign domain names registered by our companies and individuals cannot be accessed without resolution. However by resorting to certain measures, .CN domain names can still operate despite obstacles within the territory of China. http://www1.cnnic.cn/IS/CNym/CNymzc/201208/t20120823_35222.htm

4^ Google blog, http://googleblog.blogspot.ru/2010/01/new-approach-to-china.html

5^Chinese original: ‘粉丝量比较高的人，就是他应该更加严格的要求自己。你要是特别随意的话，就是整个造成的这个社会影响。’

6^ Chinese original: ‘大家现在热烈讨论网络应该不应该管控、治理、引导、教化民众......。我个人认为：网络社会应该人人都参与，民众不应该是被动要教化、引导的对象。谣言应该受到法律制裁。让大V、网络名人去教化民众，提高民众的道德水平，这不靠谱。’