China censor's Naomi Osaka's Weibo account after the Japanese star expressed support for Peng Shuai

Following her public expression of concern for the missing Chinese player Peng Shuai, it appears China has placed some restrictions on the Weibo account of Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka.

It was discovered by Nikkei Asia, a leading financial newspaper, that censoring activity had been detected on Osaka's Weibo account 24 hours after she spoke out about her fellow tennis player. It was noted that comments have been disabled on her latest post even though it is unrelated to Shuai.

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Weibo is the main social media service in China which is used by millions every day but it is regulated by the country’s strict laws. Other sites such as Twitter is officially banned in the country.

In a Twitter post, Osaka stated that "censorship is never OK at any cost" and hoped Shuai and her family were safe. Shuai has not been publicly seen since making allegations on her Weibo account against retired Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, stating he had forced her to have sex with him at his home three years ago. The post was removed an hour after it was uploaded, and Shuai has not been seen or heard from since.