Liu Di, a former psychology major at Beijing Normal University who wrote under the screen name "Stainless Steel Mouse", became a high-profile symbol for democracy and free speech in China since her detention in November 2002.

Liu's case comes during a crackdown on Internet content -- from politics to pornography -- and as the government struggles to gain control over a new and popular medium.

The reasons for Liu's detention were satirizing the CCP online and calling for the release of other "cyber-dissidents." Her arrest caused a flurry of worldwide media protest.

She was freed from Beijing's Qincheng prison on Friday, November 28, 2003. Two other "cyber-dissidents", Wu Yiran, and Li Yibin, were also freed from a jail for political detainees.

See also

• List of Chinese dissidents
• Human Rights Watch page (http://www.hrw.org/advocacy/internet/dissidents/8.htm) on Liu Di.

zh:不锈钢老鼠