Forced online by virus, China's schools run into censorship

BEIJING (AP) — Less than 30 minutes into a lecture on bioinformatics, Chu Xinjian's class was abruptly cut short.

It was the first day of an unusual semester. Across China, schools have been shut indefinitely to contain the spread of a new virus that has killed more than 3,000 people. Chu's class was one of tens of thousands of courses, from grade school to university, being forced online.

Chu's professor was painstakingly sending voice recordings to the class group chat when, without warning, the system disbanded the group for violating China's Internet regulations — a pervasive, almost munda...