I Am Practicing Self-Censorship in US Now, Something I Didn't Do Even in the CCP's Labor Camp 我在中共國勞教所時還什麼都敢說，現在在美國卻不敢了
If someone says that the situation of free speech in the US is worse than in Communist China, perhaps nobody will believe it, including myself. However, after I wrote down the following statement of what I experienced in the US recently for an investigative reporter regarding social media’s censorship, I suddenly realized that I am practicing self-censorship "consciously and voluntarily" now, which I had surely not done before even in the forced labor camp in China!
如果有人說美國的言論環境，已經比不上中共國了，別說你不相信，我也不會相信的。可是，今天在給一位寫調查報告的記者寫下我自己的以下經歷時，我突然發現：我在中共國勞教所時都沒有進行過自我言論審查，現在卻在“自覺自願地”進行了……
After reading what I wrote below, I just want to say, “enough is enough!”
看完我自己寫下的這個情況，我只想說，enough is enough!
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Yes, I've been suppressed very badly. What I experienced include:
是的，我一直也被打壓得很厲害，包括：
My Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jenniferzeng97, which has 284,562 followers was suddenly taken over by an account called “Fb portal” in early August. Since then I can’t post anything and this page became dead for me. I complained many times and Facebook never responded.
1. 我經營了3年，已經積累了284,562個粉絲（follower）的臉書頁（https://www.facebook.com/jenniferzeng97），在今年8月初無端被一個叫Fb portal的帳戶接管，把我的管理權拿走了，我就再也不能發布任何東西，相當於這個頁面就廢掉了。我申訴多次臉書置之不理。
2. My Twitter account (https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd), which had 156,000+ followers about two months ago, has been suppressed ever since, and I've been losing 100-1000 followers every day, and now it's down to 150,900. Some people say they got unfollowed without their knowledge. Some say they can't see what I post even though they are following me.
2. 我的推特帳號（https://twitter.com/jenniferatntd），兩個月前還有15萬6千多粉絲，之後就遭到打壓，每天把粉絲很下減，多則一千，少則一百地減，現在已經減到15萬9千，很多人跟我反映，說並沒有unfollow我，卻發現不知何時無端被取關。還有人說，雖然在follow我，卻看不到我發的東西。
3. I’ve been suppressed by YouTube too. Early this year, during the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic, my entire channel at bit.ly/3b87DPj was once demonetized. Later on, although YouTube reversed this decision, almost all my videos were given a yellow flag, which means “limited for ads”. Now, although there are not as many yellow flags, I am still being suppressed, and my subscriptions are dropping. People told me that they got unsubscribed, or they are not receiving notifications.
3. 油管也一直打壓我，疫情期間曾經取消我整個頻道（bit.ly/3b87DPj）的广告資格，後來雖然恢復了，卻幾乎所有視頻都被黃標。現在雖然沒有那麼多黃標了，卻仍然在暗中打壓，訂閱數會往下降，有人反映被自動取消訂閱，有的按了接收通知鍵，卻收不到通知。
Since I started talking about the US election, the views suddenly dropped dramatically. I seriously doubt these videos are being suppressed. Some viewers told me they even couldn’t like my videos, nor could they share them on Facebook.
自我開始談論大選作弊問題後，觀看量明顯下降，我懷疑是人爲被打壓，有觀衆反映想給我按讚都按不了。還有人說，想在臉書轉發不讓轉。
4. I have been forced to censor myself for fear of being censored. For example, in the latest program about the US election（https://youtu.be/ju-IxkX1caw）, I dared not use “voter fraud”, but only vaguely said “problems in the voting system”, etc. I was afraid that the phrase “voter fraud” would be caught by YouTube’s AI system, so I have been avoiding “voter fraud” throughout the entire show.
4. 因擔心被審查，我已經不得不進行自我審查。如最新一期談選舉的節目（https://youtu.be/ju-IxkX1caw），我不敢說voter fraud,只敢含糊地說problems in the voting system。我擔心油管的AI審查會識別voter fraud這個詞，所以一直不敢用。
In the U.S., where freedom of speech is supposed to be guaranteed, the situation is as ridiculous as this! When the Chinese Communist Party was cracking down on Falun Gong at its strongest, I still had the courage to write letters to the CCP leaders with my real name and address, and once planned to go to Tiananmen Square to display a Falun Gong banner (I ended up not going because I was arrested beforehand). At that time, I was willing to risk my life to defend what I believed to be the truth.
在保障言論自由的美國，情況已經可笑到這種程度了。在中共最強力打壓法輪功的時候，我尚有勇氣給中共領導寫信，並曾經計劃到天安門去打橫幅（因提前被抓沒去成），當時是覺得豁出性命也要捍衛我認定的真理。
In the labor camp, which is as evil as a devil’s den, when the vicious police asked me to criticize Falun Gong, I always wrote about how wonderful Falun Gong is, and how it only benefits the nation and the people in an open and upright manner. I didn’t have fear then, as I didn’t care what they would do to me.
在勞教所那樣的黑窩中，每次警察讓寫法輪功的黑材料，我都是堂堂正正寫上法輪大法的益處，從來沒有怕過。
I never imagined that after 20 years, when I am in the United States, where freedom of speech is supposed to be ensured, I am actually practicing self-censorship-something I even did not in the CCP’s labor camp, as while I had no fear in the labor camp, I do have fear now: I was afraid if my accounts get deleted or suppressed, I will lose channels to spread the truth. Although there are alternative platforms, accumulating followers needs time. I don’t want to lose my current channels, which I have worked very hard to develop.
我真的沒有想到，我20年後在本應言論自由的美國，卻開始怕上了，說話要“含糊其詞”，不敢正大光明地說的——因爲我擔心言論被審查，或帳號被封，我更沒有傳播真相的途徑了。
This is the reality of America now. Isn’t it sad?
這就是美國的現實，不悲哀麼？
11/18/2020
