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 as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”
State Council Information Office: All websites must delete the Outlook Weekly article “Zhejiang Secretary [Xia Baolong]: Western Hostile Forces Use Questions of Work Style to Drive Wedge Between Cadres and the Masses.” Interactive platforms must control related commentary. (February 19, 2014)
国信办:全网查删瞭望周刊“浙江书记:西方敌对势力用作风问题离间干群关系”一文,互动环节控制有关评论。
CDT collects these directives from a variety of sources and checks 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.