The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.
The Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony
November 7, 2010
The 2010 Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony will take place on December 10. All domestic media outlets are not permitted to report on this event. All websites must strengthen content surveillance and management. It is strictly forbidden to broadcast live audio or television programming, recorded broadcasts, excerpts, or related links connected to the awards ceremony.
诺贝尔颁奖仪式
2010年诺贝尔奖颁奖仪式将于12月10日举行，对该活动国内媒体一律不予报道，各网站要加强内容监管，严禁传播该活动的音视频直播、录播、片断及相关链接。
360 and Tencent
November 4, 2010
Be cautious in reports and commentary regarding the conflict between 360 and Tencent.
[News Summary: Due to conflicts between 360 and Tencent caused by issues with software incursions, messaging among Chinese Internet users has been influenced.]
360与腾讯
慎重报道评论360与腾讯的争端
【新闻简介：360与腾讯因软件入口问题发生争端，中国网友通讯受影响】
It is forbidden to broadcast interviews from Fenghuang Satellite Television
November 4, 2010
Interviews regarding Chen Lin broadcast by Fenghuang Satellite Television are not permitted.
[News Summary: In the afternoon of November 1, Fenghuang Satellite Television anchor Zeng Zimo gave a two-hour long face-to-face interview with Chen Ling, the elder brother of Chen Xiaofeng, who was killed in reckless driving incident at Hebei University. After the interview was completed, the Propaganda Bureau censored it.
禁播凤凰卫视采访
不准凤凰卫视播出对陈林的采访。
【新闻简介：11月1日下午凤凰卫视主持人曾子墨对河北大学飙车案中过逝女生陈晓凤的哥哥陈林进行了两个小时面对面的采访，采访快结束的时候接到宣传部门禁播的指示。！】
It is forbidden to “hype” eight prominent news items
November 1, 2010
On October 28, the Central Propaganda Bureau issued the following notice to many media outlets in China: “All media outlets are to adopt effective measures, conscientiously strengthen internal management, strictly enforce propaganda regulations, and standardize news information sources, ensuring there to be no more hype regarding the disturbance over traffic at Hebei University, the suicide jump of a girl in Fenghuang, the vice mayor who fooled around with a Jingcheng female reporter, the so-called “bloody real-estate map” and other negative and sham news. Please earnestly comply and put into practice.”
The incidents that this prohibition against “hyping” from the Central Propaganda Bureau covers include:
1) The girl who died at a police station
2) The case for investigation filed against the assistant director of a Public Security office in Hunan
3) The vice mayor of Maoming who fooled around with a female reporter
4) The relocation and elimination of periodical stands in areas of Nanjing
5) The retention or abandonment of World Expo pavilion buildings
6) The Li Gang incident
7) Rumor about QQ groups being shut down
8) The incident involving the director of the Internet Office of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television
禁止“炒作”八大新闻事件
10月28日中宣部对许多中国媒体发出如下通知“请各媒体采取有效措施，切实加强内部管理，严格执行宣传纪律，规范新闻信息来源，确保不再炒作河北大学交通肇事案、凤凰少女跳楼、副市长玩弄京城女记者、所谓“血房地图”等负面和虚假新闻。请认真遵照执行。”
本次中宣部禁止“炒作”的新闻事件有：
1、少女派出所死亡
2、湖南公安厅副厅长立案一事
3、茂名副市长玩弄女记者
4、南京某区拆除报刊亭
5、世博馆去留
6、李刚事件
7、传QQ群将被关
8、国家广电总局网络处长一事
Previous Works by Liu Xiaobo
October 31, 2010
At the recent National Publishing House Directors and Editors-in-Chief meeting, the assistant director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, Wu Shulin, said: “Some people have even come up with Nobel Peace Prize plans and asked us if it would be possible to publish previous works by Liu Xiaobo. What is the meaning of this? What the heck do you want to do?!”
[News Summary: The works of Liu Xiaobo are not allowed to be published on the mainland.]
刘晓波以前的著作
新闻出版总署副署长邬书林近日在全国社长主编会议上说，“有人，居然打起诺贝尔和平奖的主意，问我们，是不是可以出版刘晓波以前的著作，这是什么意思？你们想干什么，啊？！”
【新闻简介：刘晓波的书籍不准在大陆出版】
Elimination and Forced Relocation of Newspaper Stands in Nanjing
October 31, 2010
The Nanjing Party Committee: Jinling Evening News (Jinling wan bao) is not permitted to report on the incident of Nanjing newspaper stands being eliminated and forcibly relocated.
[News summary: The Urban Management Bureau of Nanjing plans to shut down and get rid of all periodical stands on city avenues, allowing them only in Xuanwu district. Of the 90 periodical stands that have been shut down, only two have been relocated. The rest of have been completed eliminated.]
南京报亭拆迁事件
南京市委: 不准金陵晚报报道南京报亭拆迁事件。
【新闻简介：南京市城管局计划拆除南京大街上所有的报刊亭，仅仅玄武一个区，已拆掉的90多家报刊亭中只有两家移位安置，其余的已全部拆除】
Li Gang incident
October 27, 2010
On-line media are not allowed to offer news related to Li Gang.
李刚事件
网媒不准推荐关于李刚的新闻。
【真理部并非特指中国共产党宣传部，而是包括中宣部，国务院新闻办公室，中央文明办，广电总局，出版总署，政法委以及省市地方政府部门等一系列的妨碍言论自由和出版自由的所有部门】
“Liu Xiaobo: the man and what he has done”
October 27, 2010
Please prominently place the story “Liu Xiaobo: the man and what he has done” (Liu Xiaobo qi ren qi shi,” both on the front page and the headline news section. Do not open it to posted comments, and only use this original title.
《刘晓波其人其事》
请在双首页要闻区显著转发《刘晓波其人其事》，不开跟帖，只使用原标题。
Incident of a Vehicle Crashing into the Hunan Provincial Party Committee Compound
October 26, 2010
A censorship directive from the Hunan Provincial Propaganda Bureau: It is forbidden to report on the vehicle that crashed into the Hunan Provincial Party Committee compound.
[New summary: On October 26, 2010, at 6:50 am, a small black car crashed into the compound of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee compound. An armed guard was injured, and three cars were damaged. Police detained the driver who caused the disturbance, who is now recovering in the hospital. Reasons for the incident are currently under investigation. The Changsha police department has solemnly declared: “This is definitely not a purposeful attack against a government body.”]
车辆冲入湖南省委事件
湖南省宣传部禁令：禁止报道车辆冲入湖南省委事件 。
【新闻简介：2010月26日上午6时50分许，一辆黑色小车冲进湖南省委大院，致1名武警受伤，3辆车擦伤。肇事司机已被警方控制，正在医院救治，事发原因正在进一步调查之中。 长沙警方信誓旦旦地称，“这绝对不是故意冲击政府机关”。】
Incident of a Forklift Disturbance at Shijiazhuang
October 25, 2010
The Hubei Provincial Propaganda Bureau has instructed: It is not permitted to report on the forklift disturbance incident at Shijiazhuang
[News summary: On October 23, 2010, in the city of Shijiazhuang, a large forklift ran into several cars, one after the other, and many policeman surrounded it. It is said that the incident occurred in the course of fleeing from a disturbance.]
石家庄铲车肇事事件
河北省宣传部指示媒体：不准报道石家庄铲车肇事事件
【新闻简介：2010年10月23日，石家庄市内一辆大铲车连撞多辆车,很多警察围堵,据说是肇事逃逸过程中发生的】
Diary of a Guangzhou Mistress
October 22, 2010
It is not permitted to report on the diary of the Guangzhou mistress – Guangdong Provincial Propaganda Bureau
[News summary: The mistress of Yao Binhua, the director of the Guangzhou News and Information Bureau, has written a diary of their passion over 20,000 characters long and posted it on the Internet. The hit rate has exploded.]
广州情妇日记
不准报道广州情妇日记 － 广东省宣传部
【新闻简介：广州市新闻信息处长姚斌华的情妇写了2万多字的性爱日记放在网上，点击率暴涨】
Ban on Reporting on the “World Famous Architecture District” Incident in Urumqi
October 22, 2010
Zhang Keling, vice head of the Xinjing provincial party propaganda bureau, has issued a directive: It is forbidden to report on the “World Famous Architecture District” incident in Urumqi.
[Brief overview of the news: Advance sales in the “World Famous Architecture” district of Urumqi start at 6,700, but a national investment group has purchased at 2,700. There is recorded verification from a salesperson for “World Famous Architecture.”]
The report below has already been published in the Xinjiang Digital Times.
Without obtaining a certificate that permits advance sales and selling “certificates of sale” that offer no protection from risk, the property bureau says: “World Famous Architecture” has made illegal sales.
新疆自治区党委宣传部副部长张可让指令：禁止报道乌鲁木齐“世界名筑小区”事件。
【新闻简介：乌鲁木齐“世界名筑”小区现在预售价6700起价，国资委团购价2700 ，有“世界名筑”销售人员录音证据】
以下报道见已经发表了的新疆数字报：
预售证尚未取得就售房 “认购证”不受保护存风险 房产局：“世界名筑”非法销售
Read more about the “Ministry of Truth” via CDT:
In China, several political bodies are in charge of Internet content control. At the highest level, there is the Central Propaganda Department, which ensures that media and cultural content follows the official line as mandated by the CCP. Then there is the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which has established “Internet Affairs Bureau” to oversee all Websites that publish news, including the official sites of news organizations as well as independent sites that post news content.
This “Internet Affairs Bureau,” sent out very specific instructions to all large news websites daily, and often multiple times per day. Those instructions do not always mean that related contents are completely banned online, but they instruct websites to highlight or suppress certain type of opinions or information in a very detailed manner.
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions, as well as other type of censorship orders to media and websites, as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” The Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue, in Newspeak) is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Chinese blogosphere, it is the online nickname for the Central Propaganda Department and generally speaking, all other subordinate propaganda agencies including Internet supervision departments.
Today, it’s been said that news does not break, it tweets. For the officials in the the Ministry of Truth, the news is that their supposedly confidential instructions get tweeted as well.
