China Censoring Anti-Russia Social Media

The Chinese government is reportedly censoring state media reports about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and promoting commentary that is supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Axios.

A leaked censorship directive obtained by China Digital Times says state media outlets in China were told not to release "anything unfavorable to Russia or pro-Western" on social media and to only use hashtags that originated at Chinese state media outlets.

"Effective immediately, re: Weibo posts related to Ukraine," the instructions begin. "Send all posts from the Horizon News account first, then repost from the main [Beijing News] account in order to promote Horizon. Do not post anything unfavorable to Russia or pro-Western."

It also added, "Carry out selection and control of comments: first enable selective comment display, then let suitable ones through. Everyone is responsible for the ones they publish. Pay real attention to which comments are allowed. Keep an eye on [responses to] each post for at least two days, paying attention at shift handovers.

"If using hashtags, only use those started by People's Daily, Xinhua, or CCTV."

Doublethink Lab CEO Min Hsuan Wu, whose group researches disinformation spread online and is based in Taiwan, told Axios that Beijing has "tried to depict the U.S., the West, and NATO as not trustworthy," and compared it to attempts to portray "people in Taiwan as delusional to think the U.S. will protect Taiwan at all."

Wu said, "But that faded away after the strong sanctions and united front from European countries and NATO allies."

According to Wu, "What we are documenting here is not how all Chinese people themselves think. This is censorship and information control."

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