“To Retweet Each and Every Rumor”
This chapter discusses the practice of rumor diffusion via mobile communication, or what I call “mobile rumoring,” against the hegemonic discourse of the authorities. What drives easy diffusion and proliferation of rumor via mobile phones and other ICTs, even in the face of intensified rumor control, surveillance, and punishment from the regime? As the answer unfolds, the Chinese state’s strategies to suppress communication in the guise of so-called rumor unwittingly establishes the socio-cultural foundation for rumor proliferation, while the official denunciation of rumor becomes a political opportunity that triggers the collective practice of rumor diffusion against the authorities. The call for rumor dissemination thus becomes both an action—a type of tactic, or covert resistance—and a frame to contest communication control and political manipulation by the authorities. Both contested identity and dissenting emotion join as counter-authority initiatives that represent the dynamic behind mobile rumoring in China today.