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: (1) CCTV Finance’s posts on smog may not be reposted to the Weibo accounts of media organizations and media personnel. (2) It is forbidden to hype the contents of the Beijing News article “Beijingers Don Breathing Masks in Smog for ‘Naked Pig Run.'” (February 23, 2014)
国信办：1，媒体官博和从业者微博对央视财经账号有关雾霾的内容不要再转发。2，禁止炒作新京报“北京市民雾霾中戴口罩‘光猪跑’”一类内容。
Amid another intense bout of smog, yesterday was the annual “Naked Pig Run” in the capital city, and some participants showed up wearing little more than their protective face masks.
Originally posted by CCTV Finance’s official account on February 15, the following weibo have been deleted. They can be seen as originally posted in the FreeWeibo archives:
央视财经 [CCTV Finance]: “Beijing Municipal Government, Don’t Hide Behind the Thick Smog!” Several days of silence have indicated a problem more serious than smoggy weather: the people have grown numb and society no longer pays attention to such a familiar sight. CCTV Finance is issuing a wakeup call: the government can’t act blind, it must bear the burden of responsibility, protect its territory, and not act ignorant! So, we loudly ask one question: is there anyone here who still cares about the smog?
【北京政府，别趁着大雾装瞎！】连续几天的沉默，说明了一个问题，严重雾霾天气多了，民众自然就会麻木，社会也会熟视无睹，但央视财经提醒的是，政府不能当瞎子，它必须要肩负起自己的责任，守土要有责，莫无知！无畏！无为！所以，央视财经大声的问一句，这里，还有人管雾霾吗？
2014年02月15日 22:50
央视财经 [CCTV Finance]: “Does Anyone Still Care About Beijing’s Smog?” Beijing, Beijing, the pollution index is off the charts. PM2.5 concentration has surpassed 541 micrograms/square meter throughout the city. Today we continuously waited for the municipal government to launch into heavy pollution emergency response. But, as evening fell, automobile limitations still hadn’t started, factories still hadn’t given news of halting production, and buses were still darting back and forth. How severe the must the pollution get before the emergency response goes into effect? We don’t understand.
【还有人管北京的雾霾吗？】北京，北京，污染指数爆表，全市PM2.5浓度超过541微克/平方米。今天，一直在等待着北京市政府关于严重雾霾的各项预案。但等到了晚上，车依旧不限号的开着，工厂也没有停工的消息，公车，依旧在飞奔着，我们不明白，什么样的天气污染，才会启动传说中的治理雾霾紧急预案呢？
2014年02月15日 22:46
As heavy smog season was kicking off last October, Beijing drafted an air pollution emergency response plan that included a four-tiered, color-coded alert system. After days of heavy pollution and CCTV Finance’s now-deleted weibo, Beijing issued an “orange” alert—the second highest in the system—for the first time last Friday. As of yesterday evening, Beijing remained under orange alert.
For more on Beijing’s notorious smog, including netizen ridicule of a PLA researcher’s claim that it acts as a protective forcefield against American laser weaponry, see prior CDT coverage.
