The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as...
The post translated below, from WeChat account “Summer Flavors,” argues that keyword-based censorship on Chinese online platforms is missing the mark, both unnecessarily restricting harmless speech and failing to...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
What kind of society would we have if no one spoke up?”
— From a censored article about migrant worker Jing Shuren, who was detained for two years and is now being tried for reposting online content to help draw attention to the widespread problem of unpaid wages
The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as well as debate about the state of Chinese academia and whether there is enough domestic support and encouragement for emerging academic talent. It is the first time that two Chinese nationals have been awarded the prize. (In 1982, U.S.-based Yau Shing-Tung became the first ethnic Chinese mathematician to win the prize; Australian-born Terence Tao won in 2006.) Wang Hong (王虹,...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It...
Recent weeks have seen extreme weather across central and southern China, particularly in Guangxi,...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police raided two independent bookstores (Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield, respectively) and arrested five individuals on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, an offence punishable with up to seven years in prison under Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law (NSL). Three of those arrested have since been released on bail, while the status of the other two remains unclear. The raids and arrests took place on Wednesday, against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s annual international book...
RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026...
On Monday, the Hong Kong government gazetted amendments to the implementation rules of the...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the...
The involvement of Chinese nationals in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine received...
We believe: Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime. [Chinese] This...
RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026 conference just days before it was to convene in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the Zambian government. A leading summit on human rights and technology held annually since 2011 in various countries and organized by the advocacy group Access Now, RightsCon had anticipated about 2,600 attendees from more than 750 organizations, including NGOs, human rights organizations, and some of the world’s largest tech companies. Its sudden cancellation heightens concerns...
On Monday, the Hong Kong government gazetted amendments to the implementation rules of the...
During the recently concluded “Two Sessions” annual legislative meetings, the National People’s...
On January 15, non-governmental organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) reported that, for the...
As 2025 draws to a close, CDT editors are compiling a series of the most notable content (Chinese)...
In the run-up to the Global Women’s Summit slated for October in Beijing, which will mark the 30th...
The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as well as debate about the state of Chinese academia and whether there is enough domestic support and encouragement for emerging academic talent. It is the first time that two Chinese nationals have been awarded the prize. (In 1982, U.S.-based Yau Shing-Tung became the first ethnic Chinese mathematician to win the prize; Australian-born Terence Tao won in 2006.) Wang Hong (王虹,...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It...
Recent weeks have seen extreme weather across central and southern China, particularly in Guangxi,...
The post translated below, from WeChat account “Summer Flavors,” argues that keyword-based censorship on Chinese online platforms is missing the mark, both unnecessarily restricting harmless speech and failing to address the problems it is meant to target. This leaves users struggling to articulate even relatively innocuous messages in ways that will survive. The post carefully frames intense current restrictions as a product of blunt management by the platforms themselves. Depoliticising the issue like this might appear questionable, and blaming the platforms might seem like shooting the...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It...
Recent weeks have seen extreme weather across central and southern China, particularly in Guangxi,...
Disaster preparedness and disaster-relief efforts are hot topics on Chinese social media as the...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police raided two independent bookstores (Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield, respectively) and arrested five individuals on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, an offence punishable with up to seven years in prison under Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law (NSL). Three of those arrested have since been released on bail, while the status of the other two remains unclear. The raids and arrests took place on Wednesday, against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s annual international book...
CDT recently published a large set of leaked internal instructions for online content management...
Apple announced long-anticipated AI upgrades to its Siri voice assistant this week at its annual...
Ahead of the 37th anniversary of the June Fourth crackdown, CDT Chinese editors compiled a number...
Chinese social media and financial news apps are abuzz over new policies restricting the use of...
At The Wall Street Journal last week, departing China correspondent Yoko Kubota described her...
In June, ChinaFile published a new report, "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters"—the product of 18 months’ work by Jessica Batke, ChinaFile’s senior editor for investigations, and Laura Edelson, assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University. The report gives a concise but thorough overview of China’s online censorship system, including the motivations behind it and the mechanisms by which it is implemented. It expands on the familiar image of the "Great Firewall" as a perimeter barrier, adopting a broader...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
A recent WeChat post reveals that some Chinese schools and universities are using special software...
In the two weeks since the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China...
You Must Take Part in Revolution is a graphic novel by Badiucao, political cartoonist and former CDT contributor, and Melissa Chan, a journalist who in 2012 became the first reporter to be expelled from China in more than a decade. The book was conceived in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and follows the divergent paths of three friends in Hong Kong and Taiwan from their involvement in the protests through to 2035. CDT: I’m sure anyone reading CDT is familiar with each of you separately. How did the two of you come to join forces? Melissa Chan: I’d interviewed Badiucao for a...
On September 12, 2003, John Battelle published the first post on chinadigitaltimes.net: Here’s...
In 2014, Leta Hong Fincher published her first book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender...
Starting in March 2008, Tibetans across the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), Qinghai, Gansu, and...
Surveys have shown that Xi Jinping’s hardline foreign policy is increasingly unpopular abroad....
Jeremy Wallace, associate professor of Government at Cornell University, joined CDT to discuss his...
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”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin (TikTok’s counterpart in the Chinese market), Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are...
In late May, China’s State Council announced new guidelines on providing basic services in the...
CDT recently published a large set of leaked internal instructions for online content management...
Online censorship, official secrecy, and public speculation kicked into high gear following last...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
Apple announced long-anticipated AI upgrades to its Siri voice assistant this week at its annual...
The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as well as debate about the state of Chinese academia and whether there is enough domestic support and encouragement for emerging academic talent. It is the first time that two Chinese nationals have been awarded the prize. (In 1982, U.S.-based Yau Shing-Tung became the first ethnic Chinese mathematician to win the prize; Australian-born Terence Tao won in 2006.) Wang Hong (王虹,...
The post translated below, from WeChat account “Summer Flavors,” argues that keyword-based...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It...
The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as well as debate about the state of Chinese academia and whether there is enough domestic support and encouragement for emerging academic talent. It is the first time that two Chinese nationals have been awarded the prize. (In 1982, U.S.-based Yau Shing-Tung became the first ethnic Chinese mathematician to win the prize; Australian-born Terence Tao won in 2006.) Wang Hong (王虹,...
The post translated below, from WeChat account “Summer Flavors,” argues that keyword-based...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
The notice below was issued by the Hunan Library, a provincial institution located in Changsha. It...
Disaster preparedness and disaster-relief efforts are hot topics on Chinese social media as the...
Back-to-back typhoons have brought torrential rain, flooding, and other extreme weather events to...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former investigative journalist Chu Chaoxin to post a belated but heartfelt plea for Jing Shuren’s release. He emphasizes that Jing was for the most part only reposting others’ content, and there is no sign that he took payment for this. Chu writes that Jing "must not be accused of picking quarrels and provoking trouble just because he might have shared some posts that weren’t completely true; still less should he be sentenced for it. Even if, among all those rights-defense posts, he...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police...
In late May, China’s State Council announced new guidelines on providing basic services in the...
CDT recently published a large set of leaked internal instructions for online content management...
Online censorship, official secrecy, and public speculation kicked into high gear following last...
In late May, China’s State Council announced new guidelines on providing basic services in the place of people’s actual residence, rather than formal registration. Such a shift could substantially alleviate the hardships imposed by the current hukou household registration system, which has effectively kept many tens of millions of migrant workers apart from their parents and children for long periods. This is not the first time changes to the system have been promised. In 2023, one Chinese expert told Reuters that "Hukou reform is a hard bone to chew, […] it’s not something you...
Despite huge leaps in recent decades, rural living standards remain an issue of widespread popular...
Despite huge leaps in recent decades, rural living standards remain an issue of widespread popular...
Responses on Chinese social media to state broadcaster CCTV’s annual Spring Festival Gala...
At The New York Times on Monday, columnist Li Yuan describes how, as "wages stagnate and jobs...
In late 2020, CDT acquired and verified a collection of propaganda directives issued by central...
RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026 conference just days before it was to convene in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the Zambian government. A leading summit on human rights and technology held annually since 2011 in various countries and organized by the advocacy group Access Now, RightsCon had anticipated about 2,600 attendees from more than 750 organizations, including NGOs, human rights organizations, and some of the world’s largest tech companies. Its sudden cancellation heightens concerns...
On Monday, the Hong Kong government gazetted amendments to the implementation rules of the...
During the recently concluded “Two Sessions” annual legislative meetings, the National People’s...
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China issued the findings of its 2025 Media Freedoms Survey this week, painting an unsurprisingly bleak picture of the "new abnormal" conditions for the shrinking foreign news media presence in the country. Respondents reported frequent obstruction, surveillance, weaponization of visa issuances and renewals, legal threats, and pressure on Chinese colleagues. One reporter for a European outlet described harassment that “ranges from blocking access to interviewing certain people, demanding we leave, long periods being made to wait for...
The post below, the latest in a series of translated accounts by Chinese users grappling with...
Xi Jinping spoke in Beijing on July 1 at a ceremony to mark the 105th anniversary of the Party’s...
Chinese teachers have long complained about being overworked and frequently called upon to perform various “busywork” tasks outside of teaching, such as filling out forms and surveys, nagging students to wear helmets while cycling to school, and during three years of pandemic lockdowns, pleading with parents to comply with health codes and travel restrictions. In some places, teachers have even been roped into serving as “background players” to fill out the crowds during visits from high-ranking officials. Several years ago, CDT translated an article from Wechat blogger Xiang Dongliang that...
The invisibly shifting red lines of Chinese internet censorship fuel a buzzing genre of content on...
Last October, former Global Times editor Hu Xijin lamented—not for the first time—the narrowing of...
CDT Chinese recently highlighted an exchange with ByteDance’s AI chatbot Doubao which illustrated the annual spike in online censorship surrounding the anniversary of the June 4th crackdown, and the newer phenomenon of high political guardrails around Chinese AI output: What does [the English phrase] "it’s my duty" mean? This content is in suspected violation of Doubao’s terms of use. If you believe this is an error, please press and hold this message and select "Dislike" to submit feedback. [Chinese] "It’s my duty" refers to an iconic...
Hostile foreign forces have long been accused of fomenting unrest and other ills in China. The...
Public anger and attendant online censorship are running high after a May 22 gas explosion at...
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former investigative journalist Chu Chaoxin to post a belated but heartfelt plea for Jing Shuren’s release. He emphasizes that Jing was for the most part only reposting others’ content, and there is no sign that he took payment for this. Chu writes that Jing "must not be accused of picking quarrels and provoking trouble just because he might have shared some posts that weren’t completely true; still less should he be sentenced for it. Even if, among all those rights-defense posts, he...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police...
A pair of recently surfaced screenshots appear to offer unusual detail about a special month-long operation, held in Beijing and involving over 40 Ministry of Public Security computer specialists from around the country, to combat “overseas cyber forces” in the battle for public opinion. The apparently leaked internal instructions from the Ministry of Public Security are likely to be the result of an email breach. They include the names and locations of many of the computer-specialist officers, as well as the name and contact information of the individual in charge of the operation. At some...
Over the past two weeks, the Biden administration has issued a series of regulations intended to...
Popular online writer Shen Maohua, who writes under the pen name Wei Zhou, is known for his...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large language models (LLMs) have had a profound impact, for better and worse, on the work of Chinese investigative journalists and news editors. New AI tools have reverberated through campus newsrooms, state media, and online and print publications and platforms. They have been used to facilitate backend content and comment filtering, influence and censorship operations, the erasure of history, and the further fragmentation of the global internet. A recent article from Guo Yujie, a reporter at the China...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police...
Back-to-back typhoons have brought torrential rain, flooding, and other extreme weather events to...
In late May, China’s State Council announced new guidelines on providing basic services in the place of people’s actual residence, rather than formal registration. Such a shift could substantially alleviate the hardships imposed by the current hukou household registration system, which has effectively kept many tens of millions of migrant workers apart from their parents and children for long periods. This is not the first time changes to the system have been promised. In 2023, one Chinese expert told Reuters that "Hukou reform is a hard bone to chew, […] it’s not something you...
Despite huge leaps in recent decades, rural living standards remain an issue of widespread popular...
Despite huge leaps in recent decades, rural living standards remain an issue of widespread popular...
The announcement that two Chinese mathematicians have won the Fields Medal, awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has been met with an outpouring of national pride on Chinese social media, as well as debate about the state of Chinese academia and whether there is enough domestic support and encouragement for emerging academic talent. It is the first time that two Chinese nationals have been awarded the prize. (In 1982, U.S.-based Yau Shing-Tung became the first ethnic Chinese mathematician to win the prize; Australian-born Terence Tao won in 2006.) Wang Hong (王虹,...
The post translated below, from WeChat account “Summer Flavors,” argues that keyword-based...
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large...
Disaster preparedness and disaster-relief efforts are hot topics on Chinese social media as the country braces for as many as three new typhoons in the next ten days. This follows the devastation earlier this month of twin typhoons Bavi and Maysak, which caused 39 deaths in southern and central China, damaged farmland and livestock, prompted the evacuation of nearly two million residents, and resulted in the breach of the Liulan Reservoir in Guangxi province and rare tornadoes in Hubei province. At South China Morning Post, Xinlu Liang reported on an inter-agency meeting to discuss...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content...
In yet another blow for book lovers and free thinkers in Hong Kong, national security police raided two independent bookstores (Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield, respectively) and arrested five individuals on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, an offence punishable with up to seven years in prison under Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law (NSL). Three of those arrested have since been released on bail, while the status of the other two remains unclear. The raids and arrests took place on Wednesday, against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s annual international book...
CDT recently published a large set of leaked internal instructions for online content management...
Apple announced long-anticipated AI upgrades to its Siri voice assistant this week at its annual...
During the recent back-to-back Sino-American and Sino-Russian summits, there was a fair amount of online censorship of sensitive-word combinations, much of it “soft censorship” aimed at controlling online discourse by limiting search results to Chinese government websites and state-media outlets. This, and a lack of substantive breakthroughs during the Xi-Trump summit in particular, meant that much Chinese social-media commentary focused on amusing or meme-friendly details such as Elon Musk’s son’s wardrobe and Mandarin study, or the menu of the banquet served to the visiting American...
RightsCon, the world’s largest digital human rights conference, was forced to cancel its 2026...
After the carnage, there aren’t even enough people left to form a WeChat group. [Chinese]...
Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention
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