Netizen Voices: As Sino-Japanese Tensions Rise, “Tourism is Treated like a Chamberpot, a Disposable Tool”
The diplomatic crisis between China and Japan continues to intensify, following Japanese Prime...
social media censorship
Translation: Farewell to a Deleted WeChat Account, “Du Fu of Huanhua Creek”
Late last month, WeChat moderators’ axe fell on "Du Fu of Huanhua Creek," apparently prompted by a post questioning online comments about Sino-Japanese tensions. On their other account, "History...
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for October 2025, Part Two
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”)...
Words of the Week: WeChat Account “New New New Silence” and China’s Online “Reincarnation Party”
Last week’s CDT Chinese 404 Archives podcast highlighted the recent revival of the Silent Observer WeChat account. The account, which for several years has provided a platform for philosophically-inclined reflections on...
Taiwanese Singer Zheng Zhihua’s Boarding Difficulties at Shenzhen Airport Spur Debate About Disability Access in China
Taiwanese singer Zheng Zhihua’s complaint about a difficult experience boarding a flight at Shenzhen’s main airport has spurred heated online debate about barrier-free access for disabled people in China. Both Zheng and the...
Translation: Q&A – What Should I Do if I’ve Accidentally Used a Sensitive Word in My WeChat Post?
The following translations are from a series of posts on WeChat public account 育知录 Yuzhilu—a reference to a quotation from the Great Learning, one of Confucianism’s "Four Books": 育人先育己，知世先知人 Yù rén xiān yù jǐ,...
CDT Quote of the Day: Local Media Excuses Failure to Report on Elementary School Vehicular Attack—“Our Hands Are Tied, Too”
Police and media silence after a car plowed into a large crowd of students and parents near an elementary school in the city of Shiyan, Hubei province, has angered many Chinese netizens. Video shared online showed a white sedan...
Netizen Voices: “Stop Complaining, Hu Xijin. You Played a Part in This.”
Two posts from nationalist pundit and former Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin criticizing what he describes as a “collective silence” on Chinese social media have sparked intense discussion on Chinese and overseas websites....
Translations on Chikungunya and Mosquito Eradication in Guangdong: “Hand Over Your Keys or We’ll Pick the Locks!”
Public backlash has forced local officials in Pengyuan—a community in the city of Jiangmen, Guangdong province—to rescind an order requiring residents to surrender their keys so that sanitation workers can enter outbuildings to...
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for September 2025
CDT presents a new monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we will publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not...
Ahead of Global Women’s Summit in Beijing, More Feminist Content Blocked on WeChat
In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th anniversary of that city’s influential 1995 U.N. World Conference on Women, some WeChat accounts focused on feminism and women’s...
Translations: “Lying Down” Vloggers Banned for Espousing the Simple Life
Some popular social media accounts that depict “lying down”—eschewing the rat race in favor of a more frugal, less ambitious, low-consumption lifestyle—have recently been deplatformed, to the dismay of their many fans. Although...
China Reacts to Nepal Protest Movement
The “Gen Z” protest movement that toppled Nepal’s government last week has sent shockwaves around the region. Fueled by longstanding grievances over government corruption and social inequality, Nepalese youth took to the streets...
Censorship Smothers Criticism of Military Parade
A host of measures intended to stifle dissent allowed Beijing’s military parade last week to take place without any major disruptions. The following is a summary of some of these examples of censorship and control. Some of these...
Minitrue: Chengdu Cybersecurity Corps on “Ideological Risks During Third Quarter 2025”
The following censorship instructions, issued by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. (Black text boxes ██ indicate words that were intentionally blacked out in the leaked images.)...
Xi Flexes Diplomatic and Military Muscle at WWII Parade
On Tuesday, Xi Jinping presided over a major military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and China’s “War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.” The carefully choreographed 90-minute spectacle...
Translation: Jiangyou City Residents Explain Why They Turned Out to Protest in Support of Bullied Girl and Her Family
In the wake of early August’s spontaneous mass protests in the city of Jiangyou, Sichuan province over official inaction in a severe bullying case, there has been unusually stringent online censorship of videos, photos,...
Sensitive Words: Intense Online Censorship of Video and Hashtags About Mass Protests in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province
Following rare mass protests that broke out in the city of Jiangyou in Sichuan province earlier this month in response to the bullying of a 14-year-old girl, CDT Chinese editors have tracked unusually intense online censorship...
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