The following censorship instruction, issued to the media by government authorities, has been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
Delete all online images of the “Yuyuantan inflatable toad” and related commentary. (July 23, 2014)
全网查删“玉渊潭充气蛤蟆”图片及有关评论。
Netizens compared the 72-foot installation in a Beijing park to Jiang Zemin, who is mockingly called “The Toad.” Xinhua and Sina soon removed reports on the toad, and even innocuous weibo began to disappear.
CDT collects 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 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.
