The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
State Internet Information Office: Immediately delete contents which calls into question the appointment of the children of cadres to positions in local government, members of the so-called “governing second generation,” “governing third generation,” “red second generation, etc. (including news, blogs, forum posts, images, and video). Report on the progress of your work. (May 14, 2013)
网信办:立即清理质疑一些干部子女出任地方领导职务所谓“官二代”“官三代”“红二代”等信息(含新闻,博文,贴文,图片,视频等),并将简要工作情况上报。
This directive could be in response to a netizen backlash after the “rocket promotion” (火箭升迁) of Yuan Huizhong to the Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province chapter of the Communist Youth League. According to China Daily, Yuan only has three years of experience, but her father has a top appointment in the city. The directive seems preemptive of future controversies, however, as Yuan’s case is still visible on Weibo [zh]. Earlier this month, Deng Xiaoping’s grandson became a “sensitive” word on Weibo after becoming county head of Pingguo County, Guangxi Province.
The keywords “governing second generation” (官二代), “governing third generation” (官三代), and “red second generation” (红二代) are all searchable on Weibo.
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.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.