Goodbye to all the frank exchanges at Clubhouse

The repression of Muslim Uygurs, the Tiananmen Square crackdown and S&M hook-ups - nothing was off-limits in the chatrooms of Clubhouse. But China's censors have now ended those conversations.

For around a week, open discussion on China pinballed across the American audio app, endorsed by Elon Musk.

It offered a rare space to dissect taboos across politics and society - voices normally muted inside the country by the Chinese Communist Party.

Then late on Monday an error message appeared to Chinese users logging on without a VPN to establish a secure connection - a telltale sign censors had taken hold.

"Under [President] Xi Jinping the ban was a matter of time," said Lokman Tsui, a communications professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Users took to Clubhouse chatrooms and other platforms to lament the block, which closed a brief window for freewheeling exchanges.

Asked about the ban, a Chinese foreign ministry official said yesterday he was unaware of specifics but added: "While China's internet is open, the Chinese government manages it in accordance with the law and regulations."

Although Chinese versions of global platforms have emerged, Chinese users are aware content on them is monitored and censored.

It is common for companies to wipe content considered politically sensitive.

On Clubhouse last Saturday, however, more than 1,000 users flocked to a chatroom on the mass incarceration of Uygurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims in Xinjiang.

At least three people identifying as Uygurs shared stories in the Clubhouse chat.

On Monday, more than 2,000 users gathered in another chatroom discussing the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 - a taboo topic in China.

But frank exchanges were not limited to politics and power. The night after the Xinjiang chat, gay men swapped stories. Some talked about engaging in S&M hook-ups, and others shared anecdotes about taking dates home only to be found out by parents.