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.
Bombing at Internet Bar Kaili
December 6, 2010
From the Guizhou provincial party propaganda bureau: For the number of people killed in the bombing of an internet bar in Guizhou, media outlets must follow the officially released figure (7 people) in their reporting.
凯里网吧爆炸案
贵州省委宣传部：贵州凯里网吧爆炸案死亡人数，媒体必须按照官方公布（7人）报道。
Articles by Liu Xiaobo
December 4, 2010
From the Internet Management Office: All websites are asked to search for and delete the following articles by Liu Xiaobo, and related content.
1) “The Negative Effects of China’s Rise on Global Democratization”
2) “A Single-Bladed, Poisonous Sword: A Critique of Contemporary Nationalism in China”
3) “The Future Free China among the People”
4) “A Nation That Lies to its Conscience”
5) “The Sinking of a Great Nation: A Memo Written to China”
6) “A Continued Examination of the Brick Kiln Child Slave Case”
7) “The Chinese People Can Only Accept ‘Party-led Democracy’?”
8) “Reforming the Political Regime via Reforming Society”
9) “A Doomsday Survivor’s Soliloquy”
10) A Comprehensive Look at the “Draft Law on Responses [of Media to Breaking News]”
刘晓波文章
网管办： 请各网站检查删除如下刘晓波文章以及相关内容。
1， 中国崛起对世界民主化的负面效应
2， 单刃毒剑–中国当代民族主义批判
3， 未来的自由中国在民间
4， 向良心说谎的民族
5， 大国沉沦：写给中国的备忘录
6， 对黑窑童奴案的继续追问
7， 难道中国人配接受‘党主民主’
8， 通过改变社会来改变政权
9， 末日幸存者的独白
10，《应对法草案》面面观
The Rabbit Torturing Incident
December 3, 2010
From the Internet Management Office: It is not permitted to further release videos related to the rabbit torturing incident.
[News Summary: Several years ago, many websites broadly re-posted a collection of pictures of a cat being tortured, inciting nation-wide shock. A few years later, a video of a woman sitting on a rabbit through a plate of glass again ignited the Internet. The level of bloodiness and violence either equaled or surpassed the incident from the previous year. Since it was released on November 14, 2010, the number of hits on this four-minute long video has reached several million. There has been a parallel explosion of critical voices among the Chinese populace decrying such inhumane behavior. On Baidu there have been angry denunciations from Chinese netizens, with webpage notes on the rabbit torturing incident already surpassing 20 million.]
虐兔事件
网管办: 不准再发布与虐兔事件相关视频
【新闻简介：几年前，一组残忍虐猫的图片被各网站广泛转载之后引发了震惊全国的虐猫事件；几年后，一则美女隔着玻璃板坐在兔子身上的视频再次引爆网络，血腥和暴力程度较之当年有过之而无不及。自2010年11月14日发布以来，这段四分多钟的视频点击量已达数百万次，与点击量同步激增的是中国公众对虐杀行为的谴责声，百度搜索中中国网民愤怒声讨，虐兔视频的网页记录已经超过2千万条】
Elections in Taiwan’s Five Major Cities
December 1, 2010
From the Propaganda Bureau: Reports from media outlets on the elections in the five major cities of Taiwan are not permitted online.
[News Summary: Taipei, Xinbei, Taizhong, Tainan, and Gaoxiong. The so-called “Five Major City Elections” refer to the mayoral and city council elections in Taiwan’s five directly administered municipalities, listed above. The elections were recently completed. In terms of seats, the pan-Blue Coalition succeeded in maintaining Taipei, Xinbei, and Taizhong. With the advantage of three over two, the Blues continue their lead over the Democratic Progressive Party, but in terms of votes received in the five major cities the Pan-Green Coalition scored a big victory over the Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang).]
台湾五都选举
中宣部：媒体关于台湾五都选举的报道不准上网。
【新闻简介：台北市、新北市、大台中市、大台南市和大高雄市，所谓五都选举,指的是上述台湾5个直辖市市长以及市议员的选举。最近刚举行完。蓝军在席次上成功保住了台北市、新北市和台中市“三都”，以三比二的优势继续领先民进党，而绿军则在“五都”的总得票数上大赢国民党。】
Implementation Times for Deletion Orders
December 1, 2010
The Internet Management Office distinguishes between different classes of deletion orders issued to websites under its supervision. Level One deletion orders must be responded to within ten minutes, with the indicated information deleted; Level Two orders within 30 minutes; and Level Three orders within two hours.
删除指令操作时间
网管办对下属网站发出的删除指令分不同级别。一级删除指令要求反应时间为十分钟；二级删除指令是半小时；三级删除指令两小时内必须删除指定的信息。
Portions of WikiLeaks Related to China
November 30, 2010
From the Central Propaganda Bureau: It is not permitted to report on portions of WikiLeaks related to China.
[News Summary: As the scope of the WikiLeaks information continues to expand, behind the scenes stories of Chinese foreign relations have been exposed.]
维基泄密关于中国的部分
中宣部：不准报道维基泄密里关于中国的部分
【新闻简介：维基泄密范围不断扩大，关于中国外交的不少内幕被爆出】
The National Sports Gold Medal Strategy
November 30, 2010
Internet Management Office: Websites are not permitted to post reports from Lookout (Liaowang) and International Leader Guide (Guoji xianqu daobao) related to the national sports gold medal strategy.
举国体育金牌战略
网管办：网站不准登载《瞭望》和《国际先驱导报》关于举国体育金牌战略的报道 。
WikiLeaks
November 30, 2010
From the Central Propaganda Bureau: National media outlets are forbidden from issuing further reports on the WikiLeaks documents.
维基泄密
中宣部：全国媒体禁止再报道维基泄密文件。
Public Opinion Supervision Conference
November 29, 2010
It is not permitted to issue any reports related to the Public Opinion Supervision Conference. The Conference has been permanently shut down.
[News Summary: The Public Opinion Supervision Conference, attended by Professor Zhan Jiang and others, has gained increasing influence, and is completely harmful to establishing a harmonious society.]
舆论监督研讨会
不准发布关于舆论监督研讨会的任何报道，并永远停办舆论监督研讨会。
【新闻简介：展江等人参与的舆论监督研讨会，影响越来越大，十分不利于构建和谐社会】
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.
