China Digital Times

Freedom House's TNR Watch reports on the use of cyberattacks as a tactic in digital transnational repression. The analysis highlights how such attacks are employed to suppress dissent across borders.

CDT's June 2026 summary of the '404 Deleted Content Archive' highlights 30 new deleted articles, focusing on topics like censorship around the June Fourth anniversary, an animal torture case in Chongqing, and labor statistics. The archive now contains 2,593 deleted items, with content removed from platforms including WeChat, Weibo, and Bilibili.

China's State Council introduced new guidelines to provide basic services based on actual residence rather than hukou registration, aiming to address issues caused by the hukou system that separates migrant workers from their families. Journalist Peng Yuanwen argues the central government should fund reforms to improve education for migrant and left-behind children, criticizing past policies like the one-child policy and highlighting demographic challenges.

Back-to-back typhoons caused severe flooding and a dam breach in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, resulting in significant deaths and evacuations. Censored articles criticize inadequate flood response, historical dam failures, and the use of euphemisms in official reporting.

Xi Jinping emphasized 'struggle' during a speech at the Communist Party's 105th anniversary. A Communist Youth League video celebrating the event was blocked on Tencent's QQ Space for violating policies, sparking online mockery and sarcastic comments referencing 'struggle' and factional tensions.

The article presents a photo of Huaqiangbei Electronics Market taken by QuantFoto. The image is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Cloudflare collaborates with China Digital Times to combat censorship. The partnership focuses on technological efforts to circumvent digital restrictions.

Cloudflare released a 2026 report detailing cyberattacks targeting civil society. The report focuses on security threats faced by organizations and individuals involved in civil society activities.

Hu Xijin, a former Global Times editor, criticized the narrowing of public discourse in China, noting increased caution in online speech. Wang Wusi responded by criticizing Hu and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun over electric car safety issues, arguing excessive tolerance of hazards and using a censored Bertolt Brecht quote to highlight concerns.

CDT’s May 2026 summary of censored content highlights 43 new deleted articles primarily from WeChat, covering topics like Chinese students in Russia’s Victory Day Parade, a coal mine explosion in Shanxi, and LGBTQ+ rights responses from China’s Supreme People’s Court. The archive includes deletions from platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, reflecting ongoing censorship by Chinese authorities.

Apple's new AI upgrades for Siri will not be available in mainland China or the E.U. due to regulatory issues, with the E.U. citing the Digital Markets Act and China requiring compliance with political guardrails. Apple has not provided detailed explanations for the Chinese restrictions and faces challenges in obtaining regulatory approval there.

ByteDance's AI chatbot Doubao censored a query about the phrase 'It’s my duty,' linked to a 1989 protest covered by the BBC. The phrase has become a symbol of protest in China, resurfacing during 2022's June 4th anniversary and zero-COVID protests, prompting censorship on platforms like Weibo and QQ Music. AI systems and traditional measures blocked related content, including social media changes, promotions, and embassy posts.

CDT Chinese editors compiled terms related to the June Fourth crackdown subject to search censorship on Chinese platforms. Censored phrases include direct references like '64', coded variants such as '8 squared', and terms linking to historical events and figures like Hu Yaobang and Tiananmen Mothers.

Chinese regulators have restricted cross-border brokerage apps like Futu, Tiger Brokers, and Long Bridge, prohibiting mainland investors from accessing overseas stocks without licenses. The policy, criticized online as limiting both capital and people's mobility, could impact up to HK$250 billion in assets held by mainland investors in Hong Kong. Hong Kong banks now require mainland clients to declare funds originate overseas, tightening capital controls.

A May 22 gas explosion at Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province killed 82 miners and injured 128. Investigations revealed concealed tunnels, falsified data, and unregistered miners lacking safety equipment as contributing factors, alongside initial underreporting of the death toll and public anger over safety violations.

During the recent Sino-American and Sino-Russian summits, Chinese social media experienced increased 'soft censorship,' limiting search results to state-approved sources. A notable incident involved Elon Musk's Chinese-language reply to a banned dissident account on X, which sparked brief online interest before being censored. Censored WeChat posts also criticized the use of schoolchildren in political events and the suppression of articles about Trump's China visit.

A banned Douyin video compared Xi Jinping to a tortoise on a utility pole, implying his leadership position is precarious and unearned. The meme criticized Xi's perceived lack of qualifications and his disruption of traditional leadership succession, sparking widespread discussion with mixed reactions, including praise and speculative analysis.

Chinese schoolchildren dressed in Red Army uniforms participated in Russia's May 9 Victory Day parade in Vladivostok, sparking widespread online controversy in China. Chinese netizens criticized the event as offensive given Vladivostok's historical significance as former Chinese territory and the region's history of persecution of ethnic Chinese. Extensive censorship of related articles by Chinese authorities followed the controversy.

CDT released its April 2026 summary of censored content from Chinese social media platforms, documenting 28 deleted articles. Key topics included government accusations against foreign forces promoting 'lying flat' lifestyle trends, the Evergrande founder's trial, feminist blogger closures, and a stabbing incident in Shenyang. The archive now contains 2,520 deleted items providing insight into Chinese censorship priorities.

Foreign journalists are increasingly departing China as nationalist sentiment rises and government restrictions on press freedom tighten. Wall Street Journal correspondent Yoko Kubota and other international reporters describe growing wariness from sources, self-censorship among Chinese contacts, and a state propaganda machine portraying the outside world as dangerous. The erosion of the foreign press corps reflects broader tensions in China-Japan relations and China's portrayal of geopolitical threats to its citizens.