The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
All regions, all websites:
Starting as of the issuance of this directive, no websites are to independently report on “American President Trump’s Inauguration.” Use only copy from authoritative media. Do not tamper with headlines, do not compile special reports, do not aggregate. News and commerce websites’ Weibo, WeChat, mobile apps, etc., must not cover the inauguration with pictures, video, or any other type of live broadcast. PC-accessible reports must not be in the top five lines of important news sections of the homepage; related headlines must not exceed two lines. Mobile clients strictly prohibit display on front screens, and do not surpass two lines. Closely manage to ensure that commentary, forums, BBS, microblogs, WeChat, and other platforms all adhere to the above requirements. Do not exaggerate or hype; manage negative and harmful expression of opinion.
All regions, all websites must strictly implement the above requests. Any violating websites and the responsible network and information departments will be seriously held accountable. (January 20, 2017)[Chinese]
Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. president today. Earlier this week, propaganda officials issued a directive limiting reporting on U.S.-China relations and on Trump in the run-up to the inauguration.
Translation by Josh Rudolph.
Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. Some instructions are issued by local authorities or to specific sectors, and may not apply universally across China. 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. See CDT’s collection of Directives from the Ministry of Truth since 2011.
