The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online.
Central Propaganda Department: The court decision on the Bo Xilai case will soon be announced. The media must monitor the Weibo accounts of their employees. Do not independently dispatch journalists to investigate. Do not speculate on any aspect of the case. All coverage must employ Xinhua News Agency wire copy; related reports from the People’s Daily, Legal Daily, and other state media may also be republished. (September 20, 2013)
中宣部：薄熙来案将于近期宣布判决结果，各媒体管好所属从业人员的微博帐号，不自行派记者采访，不炒作整个案件。所有报道使用新华社通稿，也可以转发人民日报、法制日报等中央媒体的相关报道。
Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these 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.
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.
