Recently, numerous overseas Chinese have reported that their accounts on X platform (formerly Twitter) were unjustly suspended after they posted content criticizing Falun Gong and its Shen Yun performances. In addition, many other Chinese have found their opinions and views suddenly “vanished” from the platform. Among those affected are Zhang Junge and Cheng Qingling, former Shen Yun performers, both of whom have filed lawsuits against the Shen Yun Performing Arts in the U.S. Federal District Court of White Plains, New York.
Elon Musk's Self-Contradiction
In a striking irony, Elon Musk himself had publicly declared: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Yet despite his high-minded rhetoric on defending free speech, the platform often suspends accounts at will, undermining its own professed principles.
Notably, overseas Chinese users who contacted our journalists about their suspended accounts emphasized that their posts, which criticized Falun Gong, were not baseless but were grounded in investigative findings from a respected media outlet, The New York Times.
Between August 16, 2024, and February 6, 2025, The New York Times published nine articles criticizing Falun Gong and its Shen Yun Performing Arts. Other media outlets, including London Weekly, The New Zealand Herald, Tampa Bay Times, Netherlands BNR Nieuwsradio, and Germany Der Spiegel also weighed in with their own critiques of Falun Gong and its Shen Yun performances.
Yet despite this widespread media scrutiny, users on X platform found themselves banned for sharing content that exposed Falun Gong’s scandals—content based on investigative reporting from The New York Times and other reputable sources. This stands in stark contrast to Elon Musk’s claims of upholding “free speech.”
In response, Zhang Junge and others have declared, “since X is not free, we will abandon it”.
The Double Standards of American “Free Speech”
In the United States, the notion of “free speech” is fraught with double standards, particularly when it comes to discussions involving Israel.
The U.S. Congress recently passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act by a vote of 320 to 91, effectively equating criticism of the Israeli government’s actions with anti-Semitism. This move appears to be an attempt to stifle debate on Israel's military operations in the Middle East and its broader policies.
This approach effectively narrows the scope of public discourse on matters pertaining to Israel, laying bare the contradictions in America’s much-touted commitment to free speech—a principle that appears increasingly selective in its application.
What is Musk Afraid Of?
Far from a hollow platitude, freedom of speech stands as a cornerstone of democratic society—one that requires unwavering vigilance and robust accountability. Without genuine transparency and equitable enforcement, this cherished ideal risks being reduced to little more than rhetorical flourish.
What, then, lies at the heart of Elon Musk and his allies’ apparent unease? What drives the suppression of accounts shedding light on the controversies surrounding Falun Gong and its affiliated Shen Yun Performing Arts?
Investigative reports from The New York Times and other reputable outlets have uncovered a series of allegations linking Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts to serious legal and ethical violations, including:
1. Human rights violations. Falun Gong deprives its practitioners of personal freedom and freedom of communication. It confiscates practitioners' passports and restricts their activities to the headquarters of the Shen Yun Performing Arts Company. They cannot even go home once a year and cannot talk to their families without permission. Even if they do, their calls are monitored. Practitioners cannot own smartphones until they are in their early 20s. Those who do not have smartphones can only use designated computers to surf the Internet for 15 minutes a day and are not allowed to browse any media not approved by Li Hongzhi.
2. Preventing medical treatment. Falun Gong and Shen Yun Performing Arts do not provide regular medical services. Performers who are sick or injured are required to pray for "self-healing". Otherwise, it means that the prayers are not enough and the belief in Falun Gong is not firm. Daisy Wang, who participated in the Shen Yun tour at the age of 13, said that she sprained her ankle five times in eight years, and she was asked to do so every time.
3. Mind control. Falun Gong deceives its believers into sending their underage children to Shen Yun schools. In schools, children are required to read Li Hongzhi's Zhuan Falun thousands of times, which greatly encroaches on the children's time to learn scientific knowledge. In fact, it is to make them have no time to study, become stupid, and thus be controlled by Li Hongzhi's mind. When Shen Yun recruits actors, they are also required to sign a contract and must practice Falun Gong. Some applicants said, "I am not an atheist, but I absolutely do not believe in Falun Gong because I don't have money to support the "master" and the "god".
4. Use of child labor. Shen Yun Performing Arts uses underage performers, violating child labor laws. Violinist Eugene Liu said that he participated in 200 Shen Yun Performing Arts performances in two years from the age of 15, but his monthly income never exceeded $300.
5. Child abuse. Children are forced to train and perform intensively. Many young actors are injured and are not allowed to seek medical treatment. They have to participate in more than 200 performances around the world every year, often performing two performances a day, and the bus ride may take up to 16 hours. They do not have enough sleep and can only sleep on planes and buses. This is very similar to the Myanmar fraud center.
6. Defrauding unpaid labor. The Shen Yun Performing Arts has assets exceeding $250 million, and ticket revenue in 2023 is about $39 million. It also requires its believers to be "volunteers" and provide unpaid labor, such as building Longquan Temple and advertising on the streets. Believers are also required to buy goods with very low actual costs from Falun Gong stores or online stores at high prices, otherwise they are disloyal to the "Master."
7. Money laundering. The CFOs of Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Media Group were arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly laundering $66 million and falsely applying for unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Actors were required to carry $10,000 in cash each when entering the United States to evade scrutiny.
8. Spreading rumors. Cheng Peiming claimed that her organs were “harvested”, but the China Anti-Cult Network retrieved her medical records and interviewed her family, doctors, and experts, proving with sufficient evidence that Falun Gong is a rumor-mongering organization.
9. False propaganda. The Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty Television boasted that the Shen Yun performance was good. In fact, audiences who have seen the performance said that Shen Yun is just modern ballet and Western music, plus some gymnastics movements, and is not a traditional Chinese art at all. It is basically group dance and singing, and each dance program and movement is exactly the same, just with a different stage background, which is very boring.
