By Star Chang, posted Apr 6, 2012 at 4:30 PM, 967 views,

Authorities Order Chinese Artist to Turn Off his Webcams After 5 Million Views (Video)

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei had set up four live webcams at his home to show his daily life, include one filming him while he sleeps, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his detention and encourage more transparency from all sides. Last year, Ai was held for three months during a crackdown on dissent and was subsequently fined 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) for alleged tax evasion, which he denies. The live streaming TUREMAN show had been viewed around 5.2 million times in two days, and Chinese authorities have ordered him to shut down the live webcams without any reason …

Ai, whose run-ins with Beijing authorities have made international headlines, was thrown in prison last April for a period of 81 days. To mark the anniversary of his detention, the artist recently set up webcams in his own home and streamed the live footage of himself on the Internet. Ai said his life has been so much surveillance and monitoring, his office has been searched, surveillance cameras were all set outside his house and he has been being followed every day by security officer. His live show streaming was to indicate the issue about intruding into other people’s privacy.

After 2 days of live streaming, authorities demanded that Ai take down his cameras and cease broadcasting. The site, weiweicam.com, now appears to be deactivated. It was clear that Ai has complied with Beijing’s request and the site was forcibly shut down. Despite having to turn off the live stream, Ai said he can still sent out messages to Twitter and Google+.

Last month, Ai told foreign journalists that Chinese officials had removed his account on the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo. Reports stated at the time that Ai’s account had been deleted shortly after it had been created. The artist continues to use Twitter on a daily basis. He also maintains an active Google+ account, on which he has recently posted information regarding his ongoing tax dispute with Chinese officials.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist which active in social, political and cultural criticism. The public friction between Ai Weiwei and the Chinese government get heat-up as the outspoken artist has grown noticeably bolder in his online activism. At the meantime, the Chinese authorities are taking a stronger action to stop online user making irresponsible remark on the government. Last week, officials cracked down on online rumors by suspending comment functionality on blogging sites. We afraid Ai Weiwei’s latest provocations against the communist government will get him into more trouble.

SOURCE: NTDTV, BBC, msnbc.com