Liberal Chinese social media site Douban tightens verification of overseas users as censorship intensifies | South China Morning Post

Douban, a Chinese social media platform once known as a haven for relatively liberal discussions, now requires overseas users to provide a mainland mobile phone number or an official identity document to continue using the site, as it comes under growing pressure from Beijing to strengthen content control. The company announced the new requirement on Wednesday, replacing its previous policy of allowing people located outside mainland China to open an account with a foreign mobile phone number. Having a mainland phone number on file is equivalent to real-name registration, as everyone is required to present identity documents when registering for…