The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”
State Council Information Office: All news websites, including interactive platforms, are asked to immediately carry out the following tasks: 1. Delete reports related to the court case concerning Li Tianyi taking turns having sex. 2. Delete all contents related to the riot in Hotan, Xinjiang (including text, images, and video), and report to the State Council Information Office within half an hour. (July 1, 2013)
国新办：请各新闻网站包括互动环节立即执行 1.查删李天一案轮流发生性关系的相关报道。2.删除新疆和田骚乱的相关所有信息（包括：文字、图片、视频），并于半小时内向国新办上报删除情况。
Li Tianyi, the son of People’s Liberation Army Li Shuangjiang, is set to stand trial for alleged involvement in a gang rape this February. Last Thursday, the state-run China News Agency stated that Li is accused of “taking turns having sex with a woman,” leading to speculation that the charges had been lightened.
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is under tightened security after protests near Hotan last Friday.
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.
WAR IS PEACE • FREEDOM IS SLAVERY • IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
