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Censorship in China

Censorship in China
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Censorship in China. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Tom Hanks and Raevan Lee Hanan in a still from Cloud Atlas. The 2012 film by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, based on David Mitchell’s novel, flopped everywhere except China, despite fans there seeing an edited version. Photo: Warner Bros
American cinema

How Chinese film fans embraced Cloud Atlas, movie spurned elsewhere

The Wachowkis and Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel was a box-office flop everywhere except China, despite a starry cast.

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China’s Communist Party

China stamps out AI misuse to preserve national literature and ideology

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Accidents and disasters in China

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

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China society

Video | Kanye West’s upcoming China concert draws sarcastic rebukes on social media

The American rapper, also known as Ye, is set to perform in Hainan province on Sunday.

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Kanye West. Photo: SCMP
Communist Party politics

China tightens ideological control with warnings against rock ’n’ roll, internet

New college textbook drawing on speeches of President Xi Jinping is latest move from Beijing to tighten ideological control and national security.

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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.

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China’s Communist Party

China mutes law professor on social media after cybersecurity ID plan criticism

Before the switch-off, Lao Dongyan compared online attacks of her views to the Cultural Revolution’s big character posters.

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Tsinghua University legal expert Lao Dongyan has been muted on Weibo, where she has nearly 800,000 followers. Photo: Baidu
Cybersecurity

China’s leading apps, including WeChat and Taobao, test proposed cyber ID system

More than 50 apps recently started accepting virtual IDs created under this proposed authentication system for user account registration and login.

Artificial intelligence

China names and shames agents offering unauthorised local access to ChatGPT

The Cyberspace Administration of China’s action shows its resolve to enforce domestic rules on generative artificial intelligence that were rolled out in August last year.

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US-China relations

US should fund ways to help Chinese get around ‘Great Firewall’, lawmakers hear

Washington is also urged to help Chinese students come to the US: ‘Some of the most sophisticated circumvention users in China are those who have spent significant time overseas.’

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Representative John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan, is chairman of the House select committee on China. Photo: Bloomberg
Diplomacy

Opinion | China could tell its story better by telling the whole story, warts and all

The most compelling stories are the human ones. China must allow books and films that don’t always portray it in glowing terms.

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A bookshop in Foshan, Guangdong province, seen on December 15, 2021. China has not produced enough titles that both explain China and genuinely appeal to Western readers. The problem lies with the authorities’ overly strict control. Photo: AFP
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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US-China relations

Opinion | Mixed messages undermine US-China rebuilding of people exchanges

China needs to reverse the atmosphere of intimidation felt by academics, journalists and businesses while the US must change its gruff approach.

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US-China relations

US calls for immediate release of prominent rights activists held in China

#MeToo and labour rights campaigners Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were convicted on charges of incitement to subvert state authority.

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Sophia Huang Xueqin in 2017. File photo: Free Huang Xueqin & Wang Jianbing via AP
China's economic recovery

My boss the influencer: China’s CEOs make jump to social media

China’s executives are embracing dual roles as business leaders and online influencers. Will this approach boost sales, or create a dependency on personal character?

Zhou Hongyi, co-founder of cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360, has millions of followers on Chinese social media. Photo: Weibo
China’s internet censorship

China hits out at keyboard warriors to rectify chaos of ‘smearing’ firms online

China’s internet watchdog closed dozens of social media accounts over dissemination of false and misleading information concerning companies and entrepreneurs.

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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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WeChat

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
My Take

My Take | How the internet has changed China in 3 decades, and vice versa

China officially connected to the internet in April 1994. Today, its online influence is stronger than ever.

Apple

Apple removes Meta’s WhatsApp and Threads services from China App Store

Chinese regulatory authorities had ordered the removal of those two apps over national security concerns, according to Apple.

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TV shows and streaming video

3 Body Problem piracy in China shows some American shows can still break through

BitTorrent downloads topped 90,500 on the first day of release, far surpassing those of other popular Netflix series like Squid Game and Stranger Things.

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Netflix’s 3 Body Problem opens with a scene from the Cultural Revolution, something that was handled mostly through dialogue in the Tencent adaptation of the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel by Chinese writer Liu Cixin. Photo: Netflix
China society

Opinion | Ultranationalist frenzy hampering China’s ability to tell its story

The spectre of ultranationalism is haunting Chinese social media and getting in the way of countering increasingly negative views of China around the world. Those who welcome a more vocal turn in Chinese online discourse should remember that nationalistic outbursts do not signal strength.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Accidents and disasters in China

Chinese state media blocked from blast site, raising press freedom debate

Chinese police forcibly remove journalists from scene of explosion in Hebei province, prompting debate about media’s right to report on disasters.

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Two Sessions 2024

Opinion | Why I miss the Chinese premier’s annual press conference after the ‘two sessions’

The much-anticipated press conference at the close of the National People’s Congress was cancelled, discontinuing a customary practice that was established in the early 1990s.

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Two Sessions 2024

China vows to revise law to promote patriotism and public defence support

Premier Li Qiang says Beijing will help unity ‘between the military and the government, and between the military and the people’.

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Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, delivers a work report of the NPC Standing Committee at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC. Photo: Xinhua
Video gaming

Black Myth: Wukong among China’s latest batch of approved video games

China grants licences to more than 100 new domestic titles, giving the industry another confidence boost after a video-game-related stock rout in December.

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Black Myth: Wukong is among China’s latest batch of approved video games. Photo: Handout
My Take

My Take | Why a walled internet may prove damaging for China’s future

Foreigners having trouble making mobile payments in China is just a trivial issue when it comes to the cost of its walled internet.

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Hong Kong society

Opinion | So what if the TV show Expats did not portray Hong Kong as it likes?

Whatever the reasons the Amazon Prime Video series, which includes scenes of the 2014 protests, is not available for viewing in Hong Kong, officials should take the opportunity to reflect on the role they play in any misperceptions of the city

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