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Censorship

Censorship
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Censorship. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
A woman offers a prayer in front of a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on November 13, two days after a driver rammed his car into a crowd there, killing 35. Photo: Kyodo
China society

Opinion | Spate of random killings rooted in China’s social and economic despair

The mental trauma from pandemic controls and the economic slump have led to feelings of helplessness and despair that cannot be ignored.

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China exports

As China’s vertical dramas charm US, soft-influence exports offer risks, rewards

American cinema

Why was Trump biopic The Apprentice censored in Hong Kong?

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China’s Communist Party

Chinese officials told to stop avoiding media questions about emergencies

Commentary in legal newspaper warns officials not to give ‘no comment’ answers – but some observers warn it will be easy to get round law.

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The law says officials should support the media in their coverage of disasters and other emergencies. Photo: AFP
Books and literature

Jodi Picoult, Margaret Atwood, Alice Walker books top banned list in US

Once recommended for young adults, Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes leads among 4,200 titles banned in schools, writers’ group PEN America says.

TikTok

TikTok slashes hundreds of jobs in shift towards AI content moderation

Short-video platform TikTok currently employs a mix of automated detection and human moderators to review content posted on the site.

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Malaysia

Malaysia arrests, deports maid for criticising Cambodia leaders on social media

Nuon Toeun, 36, who had worked in Malaysia for several years, was arrested on a request from the Cambodian government.

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Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Nuon Toeun, 36, who had worked in Malaysia for several years, was arrested last week by Malaysian authorities following a request from the Cambodian government. Photo: Bloomberg
Accidents and disasters in China

Man accused of stabbing Japanese boy jobless with criminal record: Chinese media

Information about the sensitive case is tightly controlled by Chinese police, media and internet censors.

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Malaysia

Malaysia scraps its loathed internet re-routing plan after public backlash

Insiders warn fallout from scrapped DNS policy could undermine government efforts to attract tech investments from major players like Nvidia.

Malaysia

Malaysia denies web traffic rerouting plan ‘draconian’ amid censorship fears

The regulator said the move would protect users from harmful content, but critics argue it could dent the country’s digital economy.

Malaysia said the DNS redirection measure was aimed at protecting vulnerable groups from malicious content. Photo: Shutterstock
North Korea

North Korea challenges China’s border telecoms plans in rare protest

Pyongyang claims Beijing failed to consult it about the deployment, potentially indicating strained communications between the two.

An engineer checks power transmission equipment in Dandong last month. North Korea said it was especially opposed to proposed radio stations in the northeastern Chinese city. Photo: Xinhua
Vietnam

Asian Angle | Vietnam retools its propaganda strategy for the social media age

Vietnam’s attempts to change its social media approach are complicated by tight controls and the public’s low trust in government messages.

Malaysia

TikTok leads tech grumbles over Malaysia’s new social media licence

TikTok Malaysia’s head of public policy urges government against taking top-down approach to moderating content on social media.

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China society

My Take | China’s censorship of cyberspace ID criticism risks losing a chance to improve

Chinese law requires new regulations to solicit public feedback, but legitimate concerns about giving netizens a single national ID are being silenced.

A man holds an iPhone as he visits Sina’s Weibo microblogging site in Shanghai on May 29, 2012. Photo: Reuters
Myanmar

Opinion | Myanmar’s VPN ban, internet controls expose citizens to more cyber threats

Ban is likely to push people, desperately seeking information or social connection, towards alternatives even from obscured sources.

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Myanmar youths browsing Facebook at an internet shop in Yangon. File photo: AFP
Malaysia

Malaysia’s raucous internet faces mute button as Anwar targets social media

Malaysia’s push for more internet regulations, including a “kill switch” to control harmful online content aimed at minors, has raised concerns about broader internet control and suppression of dissent.

Malaysia

Malaysia’s new cyber law stirs fears of ‘death knell’ for free speech

Critics say government has duty to protect space for dissent, amid concerns new law is pushed ‘with little consultation and in haste’.

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Artificial intelligence

As OpenAI blocks China, developers scramble to keep GPT access through VPNs

On the day OpenAI cut off API access in mainland China and Hong Kong, developers turned to VPNs and third-party providers while making plans to use domestic models.

OpenAI cut off China access to its application programming interface this week, forcing developers to access through virtual private networks and consider changing services. Photo: Shutterstock
Viral stories

Censorship fears as Singapore moves to erase ‘offensive’ cigarette from mural

An order by the authorities in Singapore to erase a smoking cigarette from a mural in the city’s Chinatown district has provoked a row over art censorship.

United States

In the US, LGBTQ librarians grapple with attacks on books – and on themselves

People who identify as LGBTQ say they are facing increasing difficulties at work, ranging from being repeatedly misgendered to physically assaulted.

Hong Kong politics

Maintenance on Hong Kong sculpture sparks questions over censorship

Hoarding around sculpture while it is repaired has grey panels over photos wrapping around boards blocking out two figures in yellow raincoats.

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One of the grey panels covering part of a photo of the artwork where two figures in yellow raincoats would have been seen. Photo: Jelly Tse
Cybersecurity

China cracks down on seeds of cyberbullying after suicides linked to abuse

Online publishers must push awareness of online abuse, censor comments in advance and cut off live broadcasts containing violent information.

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Chinese government ministries and agencies have jointly issued regulations to crack down on cyber abuse, including that internet information providers must not serve anonymous users. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Bill that would restrict investigative reporting in Indonesia blasted by critics

Activists argue the bill is being fast-tracked to protect the interests of the political elite.

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Indonesia

Indonesia mulls ‘dangerous’ ban on investigative journalism, LGBT content

Indonesia has been mulling controversial legal revisions in recent weeks, including changes to a law that would give the government more power to remove sitting judges.

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Human rights in China

US raises ‘deep concerns’ over disappearance of Chinese Covid-19 journalist

Zhang Zhan, arrested in May 2020 after reporting on coronavirus in Wuhan, has not been heard from since her expected prison release date earlier this week, advocates say.

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Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and sentenced to four years in prison. Photo: Handout
Censorship in China

Pirate e-book site Z-Library hit by China’s Great Firewall, Bilibili account closed

Z-Library denied rumours of temporarily restricted access in China, promising to maintain access and saying it’s open to censoring some titles.

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One of the most popular e-book piracy platforms faces restricted access in China after censorship on domestic social media accounts. Photo: Handout
Australia

My Take | Albanese clashes with Musk over harmful content – but don’t stop there

The Australian PM was incensed after Musk’s X ignored a court order to remove videos of a stabbing attack in Sydney.

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Australia

Elon Musk escalates feud with Australia over X as spy chief warns of extremism

Musk accused Australia’s leaders of trying to censor the internet after a court ordered his platform to stop showing footage of a bishop being stabbed.

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