China to bring in ‘emergency’ level censorship over zero-Covid protests: Report

Chinese authorities have initiated the highest “emergency response” level of censorship, according to leaked directives, a report said.

The measures will include a crackdown on VPNs and other methods of bypassing online censorship following unprecedented protests against country’s zero-Covid policy, Guardian reported.

The crackdown, including the tracking and questioning of protesters, comes alongside the easing of pandemic restrictions in the country. This week, protests against zero-Covid restrictions included criticism of China president Xi Jinping. The report cited leaked directives issued to online Chinese platforms, first published by a Twitter account devoted to sharing protest-related information.

The directives revealed authorities’ specific concerns about the growing interest among citizens in circumventing China’s so-called “Great Firewall”. The demonstrations have been strictly censored, but protesters and other citizens have used VPNs to access non-Chinese news and social media apps that are banned in China.

In the directives, managers have also been ordered to take a “hands-on approach” and strengthen content management to rapidly identify, deal with and report information about what it termed “offline disturbances” and “recent high-profile events in various provinces”.

“Pernicious political slogans appeared in Shanghai; college and university students held conspicuous political gatherings; smears by foreign media increased; and various websites have strengthened their content management,” the directive listed as examples of incidents that need to be controlled.