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.”
Central Propaganda Department: Concerning the case of personal injury which occurred today at the Forbidden City, the media must report according to information issued by authoritative departments. Do not independently investigate, and do not speculate on the issue. (October 25, 2013)
中宣部:对今日故宫发生的人身伤害案,各媒体要依据权威部门发布的信息报道,不自行采访,不炒作。
A man stabbed and killed two coworkers in a staff cafeteria at the Forbidden City on 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.