scorecardDoctor Li Wenliang was censored for warnings he shared on social media.

Doctor Li Wenliang was censored for warnings he shared on social media.

The WeChat message Li sent to his medical-school contacts on December 30 told them about seven patients with an unknown virus. They had all worked at or visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

The same day, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission published a notice warning that some people had contracted a type of pneumonia, possibly at the market. But the commission said "organizations or individuals are not allowed to release treatment information to the public without authorization," CNN reported.

Screenshots of Li's message had already gone viral, though.

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