Fei Chang Dao

At 8:00 am on September 30, 2014, the state sponsored Global Times reported : “Instagram, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc (FB.O), has been blocked in Chinese mainland.” These screenshots were taken shortly after the Global Times article was published, and show that Sina Weibo was restricting search results for “Instagram” to a limited subset of verified accounts it had designated as “Top Picks.”

At around 2:00 am on September 28, the state sponsored Global Times published an article entitled “ Over 60 Arrested in HK Protests .” Some excerpts: A demonstration in Hong Kong by members of student protest groups the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism on Friday night resulted in the arrest of over 60 people. At around 10 pm on Friday night, during a week-long boycott of classes, hundreds of students stormed into Civil Square, a sealed off public space next to the government headquarters, while thousands of protesters had gathered outside in support of the students. The leader of the Scholarism group, 17-year-old student Joshua Wong Chi-fung , was denied bail on Saturday after being charged with trespassing on government-controlled property, breaching the peace and engaging in illegal protest. These screenshots show that, within the 24 hours after the publication of the Global Times piece, Sina Weibo began censoring “Scholarism,” (学民思潮) “Joshua Wong Chi-fung (黃之鋒

On the evening of September 28, 2014, Sina Weibo began restricting search results for "Hong Kong Tear Gas" (香港 催泪弹). These screenshots were taken around 9:30 pm, and show that a user entering that search would only receive results in the categories "Top Picks" and "Websites." Clicking on the link labeled "View all search results" leads the user to a page that says "In accordance with with relevant laws, regulations, and policies, search results for 'Hong Kong Tear Gas' have not been displayed." (根据相关法律法规和政策，“香港 催泪弹”搜索结果未予显示。) In contrast, this screenshot was taken an hour earlier, and shows that when a user did the same search and clicked on the link labeled "View all search results," they were shown results from non-verified accounts, and were told there were over 700 search results.

On the evening of September 28, 2014, Sina Weibo began restricting search results for "Hong Kong Police" (香港 警察). These screenshots were taken around 9:30 pm, and show that a user entering that search would only receive results in the categories "Media," "Websites," and "Famous People." Clicking on the link labeled "View all search results" leads the user to a page that says "Sorry, unable to find any search results related to "Hong Kong Police." In contrast, this screenshot was taken several hours earlier, and shows that when a user did the same search and clicked on the link labeled "View all search results," they were shown results from non-verified accounts, and are told there are over 2 million search results.

This video was made by doing a search for "Hong Kong University Students" (香港大学生) and then waiting several hours (to give the censors time to do their job). Here are some of the images from the deleted posts:

As noted in this blog yesterday , as the date approached for students in Hong Kong to boycott classes in an attempt to force the central government to reconsider its recent decision on political reform, Sina Weibo began censoring "Hong Kong Boycott Classes" (香港 罢课). These screenshots show that on September 22, 2014, the first day of the boycott, Sina Weibo began censoring searches for "Boycott Classes" (罢课). These screenshots were taken on September 23, and show that Tencent was censoring searches for "Hong Kong Boycott Classes" but not "Boycott Classes," and Baidu had banned users from setting up a "PostBar" (Tieba 贴吧) forum on the topic of "Boycott Classes."

On September 19, 2014, the state-sponsored China Daily published an editorial by Eddy Li , vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong. An excerpt: The ultimate objective of democratic development is social harmony and improving people's livelihoods. I have always believed Hong Kong's advantages made our city a better place to live and work in than many other places. These advantages include freedom of speech, low crime levels, a well-developed information system, transparent government officials, a modern health system, an excellent living environment, low tax rates, and a business-friendly environment. With all these advantages, Hong Kong is definitely capable of developing a democratic political system.  At present, however, a small group of people from the "pan-democrat" camp threaten to launch class boycotts in schools and also the "Occupy Central" campaign. This is in an attempt to force the central government to reco

On June 30, 2014, the State Administration of Press, Publication  Radio, Film and Television (国家新闻出版广电总局) issued the “ Measures on the Administration of Information Acquired by News Professionals in the Course of Business ” (新闻从业人员职务行为信息管理办法). The Measures included the following provisions: “News professionals may not, in violation the provisions of their confidentiality agreements, provide information obtained in the course of their business activities to overseas media outlets, or take on a position with an overseas media outlet such  as a "stringer," "correspondent," "contributor," or columnist.” (新闻从业人员不得违反保密协议的约定，向其他境内外媒体、网站提供职务行为信息，或者担任境外媒体的“特约记者”、“特约通讯员”、“特约撰稿人”或专栏作者等。) “Any news professional who establishes a blog, micro-blog, weixin, etc. in their professional capacity must first register with, and obtain the approval of, their employer, which shall have the responsibility to maintain day-to-day oversight.” (新闻从业人员以职务身份开设博客、微博、微信等，须经所在新闻单位批准备案

As previously noted on this blog, on August 7, 2014, the State Internet Information Office issued the “ Interim Rules on the Development and Administration of Instant Messaging Tools and Public Information Services ” (即时通信工具公众信息服务发展管理暂行规定). The Rules required providers of instant messaging tool services to verify the identity of anyone applying to operate an account that allows them to post information to the general public (as opposed to a private group of designated users); and to register anyone they approve to operate public accounts with “a government agency responsible for Internet information content.” On August 8, 2014, in response to questions as to whether the new rule might be a tool to suppress freedom of speech, Xu Feng, head of mobile Internet management at the SIIO, said that it will promote the quality of instant messaging services to ensure that citizens enjoy the convenience of such services and called it the "true freedom of speech." On July 29, 201

On August 8, 2014, the state sponsored Global Times published an article entitled “ New Rules for Social Media. ” Some excerpts: China on Thursday passed a new rule regulating public accounts on instant messaging services, requiring real-name registration for account operators in a bid to crack down on online rumors, libel and illegal information involving pornography and violence. . . . . In response to questions as to whether the new rule might be a tool to suppress freedom of speech, Xu Feng, head of mobile Internet management at the SIIO, said that it will promote the quality of instant messaging services to ensure that citizens enjoy the convenience of such services and called it the "true freedom of speech," according to an official Q&A provided by the Xinhua News Agency. . . . . Other than limiting who can post political news, the new rule does not really interfere with the platform's development, said Fang [Xingdong, founder of China's leading high-

On August 10, 2014, China’s official news agency Xinhua published an article entitled “85 People Investigated for Fabricating Rumors Online, Suspected of Spreading Rumors Such as ‘Unexplained Gunshots Heard Again Inside Beijing’s Fourth Ring Road” ( 85人网上编谣传谣被查处 涉"北京西四环又现不明枪声"等谣言 ).  According to the article four people were detained on criminal charges, and 81 were detained, warned, or otherwise sanctioned under public security provisions. This screenshot was taken on August 15, and shows that Sina Weibo was censoring search results for “Fourth Ring Gun Sounds” (四环 枪声). That report followed another report by Xinhua entitled “Public Security Agencies Investigate 39 People for Fabricating and Spreading Rumors” ( 公安机关依法查处39名网上造谣者传谣者 ) on July 20 in which it reported: On July 15 of this year, Beijing Internet user Mr. Ma and Hainan Internet user Mr. Pei fabricated and posted rumors on Sina Weibo such as “Will XXX be detained tomorrow morning? I just saw information that

On August 8, 2014, China’s state run media published a report entitled “China University of Petroleum Deletes Zhou Yongkang Reports From Its Official Website” ( 中国石油大学官网删除涉周永康报道 ). According to that report: China University of Petroleum, which once reported “Zhou Yongkang Returns to Alma Mater to Participate in 60th Anniversary Commemorations,” has been inextricably drawn into the vortex of this "exceptionally big tiger's" downfall. Today, that school launched an "expunge Zhou" campaign: first they painstakingly placed a model rocket to obscure an inscription of Zhou's name, and recently completely deleted all reports about "Zhou Yongkang" from the school's news web pages. 曾因报道“周永康回母校参加60周年校庆”而名声大噪的中国石油大学，随着这一“特大老虎”落马，也被挟裹着卷进争议漩涡。近日，该校力推“去周”行动：先是刻意用火箭模型遮挡周的题字署名，近日也将学校新闻网上有“周永康”的报道悉数删除。 Below is a screenshot of that report as it appeared on May 28, 2014 (via Google cache), and as it appeared on August 16, 2014. Original URL: http://www