TRACKING CONTROL

TRACKING CONTROL

We look at the ideological concepts, policies, laws, regulations and formal and informal practices that work to “guide” and constrain the space for media, journalists and digital audiences in China.

Latest | Tracking Control

The Crimes and Punishments of China’s ‘Internet Auditors’

Oct 31, 2024 | Qin Shi

Those who grew up as the “internet generation” have also been reared inside the walls of online censorship — and some have grown up to become censors themselves. How do the people within the system operate its machinery? And what goes on the heads of those working as “screws” within that machine?

After a Savage Attack, Brutal Silence

Sep 24, 2024 | Alex Colville

The killing last week of a Japanese schoolboy in south China is the latest in a pattern of anti-Japanese hate — but the hard lessons of the tragedy are lost on the country’s media.

Responding to AI Risks

Sep 11, 2024 | Alex Colville

This summer, China’s top political body floated the creation of a safety and regulation system for AI. A new document released this week by the country’s cyberspace regulators offers the first clues of what that might look like.

From the Archive

Decline and Fall

Aug 22, 2024 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

The latest findings from Hong Kong’s Press Freedom Index don’t look good, but they do shed light on how the city’s media environment is changing four years into an ongoing crackdown.

Xi’s Ten-Year Bid to Remake China’s Media

Jul 24, 2024 | David Bandurski

Outside China, the idea of “media convergence,” the joining together of communication technologies on handheld devices, is now so much a way of life that few even talk about it. But for China’s leadership it is a concept with era-defining significance — having far-reaching consequences for the current and future exercise of power.

Code of Silence

Jul 19, 2024 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

As the Wall Street Journal fires the head of Hong Kong’s biggest press union, sources tell us this is only the tip of the iceberg — across the board, international media are pressuring their Hong Kong employees to keep away from the group, or risk losing their jobs.

Talking Tiananmen with a Chinese Chatbot

Jun 4, 2024 | Alex Colville

Chinese developers hope to build the AI of the future. What, if anything, will it have to say about the past?

Sparking Compliant AI

May 24, 2024 | Alex Colville

China is eager to show the world that it can lead in generative AI technology. But one of its first challenges is chillingly unique — how to make its industry-leading chatbots speak like the Communist Party.

Red Renaissance

May 6, 2024 | David Bandurski

China’s leadership is actively pushing culture throughout the country’s vast rural hinterland, including through hundreds of thousands of “rural bookrooms.” But the overriding goal is to push the Party’s continued dominance at China’s grassroots — to the detriment of real cultural development.

Blank Slates for the Two Sessions

Mar 21, 2024 | Alex Colville

During political meetings in Beijing earlier this month, China made a show of its openness to foreign journalists. A closer look at its efforts to cultivate invited guests, particularly from the Global South, suggests what the government really wants is to have less experienced China reporters who arrive as tabula rasa — ready to be imprinted with the government’s message.

Enforcing the CCP’s Media Leadership

Jan 9, 2024 | David Bandurski

At this year’s gathering of top propaganda officials in China, held last week, the emphasis was once again on the CCP’s dominance of the message — in the media, propaganda, and culture more broadly. The prominent use of a new Xi Jinping catchphrase made clearer than ever who is in charge of the national narrative.

Policing Pessimism, and Everything Else

Dec 14, 2023 | David Bandurski

The latest notice from China’s top cyberspace control body is clear about just one thing — the absurdity that ensues when an authoritarian system tries to be specific about everything it wants to erase, and everything it doesn’t.

The Vicious Cycle of Rumor in China

Dec 7, 2023 | David Bandurski

Internet control authorities in China routinely portray “online rumors” as a threat to public well-being. But the real concern, which has nothing to do with factualness or accuracy, is that they might be harmful to the Party’s well-being — a fact that inflates the value of rumors, including truly false information.

China’s Press Under Xi Jinping Thought

Nov 22, 2023 | David Bandurski

State media coverage of a ceremony yesterday to honor the recipients of China’s most prestigious journalism awards makes clear that the most prized asset in China’s press is control.

Good Reporters Tell Good Stories

Nov 16, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

According to the long-running theme of Journalists’ Day festivities under Xi Jinping, “good journalists tell good stories.” So what makes a good story in China today?

The Tyranny of Full Openness

Oct 20, 2023 | CMP Staff

A new measure could be on the horizon requiring all influential self-media accounts in China to publicly display the identities of the people behind them, which some fear could have a chilling effect on one of the country’s more vibrant information spaces.

Positive Energy Gets Positive Reinforcement

Aug 29, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

The results are in: what were the most “positive” articles, pictures, and videos in China over the past year? “Positive energy” (正能量) has been a priority for Chinese media for years, but the 550 pieces showcased from 2022 highlight their current top priority and reveal how “positive energy” isn’t always positive.

Ideas Worth Stopping

Aug 13, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

The cancelation of a TEDx speaking event in Guangzhou has invited debate over whether the move was about curbing “foreign influence” or a simple legal infraction. A new regulation released before the weekend suggests it might be both — and one more ripple in a growing nationwide campaign.

Onstage and Online, It’s the Party’s Rules

Jul 25, 2023 | David Bandurski

As the pandemic raged, live online performances took off in China, filling the offline gap and giving post-90s audiences a much-needed outlet. Now, say the authorities, it’s time to retune — and reassert control over a growing market.

13 Unlucky Rules for Cyberspace

Jul 13, 2023 | David Bandurski

New regulations for independent content creators in China are a reminder of how political priorities in the oversight of digital platforms undermine regulatory action that might protect the public.

How to Please China’s Audience of One

Jul 7, 2023 | David Bandurski

These days, Chinese media must be loud and clear in declaring their political loyalty to Xi Jinping and the CCP. The annual “social responsibility reporting” process, in which media tout their most praiseworthy acts of praise, is a sickening gaze into a political system that has lost the ability to see itself clearly.

The ‘Everything App’ for China’s Journalists

Jul 4, 2023 | CMP Staff

In the latest effort to centralize and tighten control over the ideological education of journalists, Chinese authorities are introducing a customized training platform with more than 220 separate courses in the Marxist View of Journalism.

Legislating Love for the Ruling Party

Jun 30, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

China’s new draft law on “enhancing patriotic education” looks to add to the leadership’s legislative toolbox for repression and ideological control.

A Tale of Two Junkets

Jun 5, 2023 | Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

Tours organized for foreign journalists in China by propaganda officials and organizations like the All-China Journalists Association may be deployed with slightly more subtlety than those for domestic “news workers.” But the goal is the same — to guide coverage in ways favorable to the leadership.

How a Massacre Shaped China’s Media

Jun 2, 2023 | David Bandurski

When it comes to media and information control policies, all Chinese live today with the legacy of the Tiananmen Massacre. We look back on a brief moment before the brutal crackdown when China’s press stood with those clamoring for change.

Comedy, Under the Watchful Eye of the State

May 18, 2023 | David Bandurski

As the ostensibly independent China Association of Performing Arts disciplined comedian Li Haoshi this week, it offered a glimpse into how China uses professional associations as proxies through which to exercise political and ideological control.

Extinguishing a Scandal at Zhengzhou University

May 10, 2023 | David Bandurski

A post going viral late Tuesday night on Weibo could be seen as proof of the crucial role social media can play in exposing wrongdoing by those in positions of power. But its subsequent treatment in the media more broadly is a lesson in how authorities in China effectively exercise controls on public opinion.

A New Era for China’s Readers

Apr 25, 2023 | CMP Staff

Xi Jinping has been lauded in the official press as a deep reader who wants to create an atmosphere of love for books in China. But the latest numbers from the country’s publishing industry suggest a climate of political hypersensitivity is killing book titles before they ever reach the shelves.

Bringing AI to the Party

Apr 14, 2023 | David Bandurski

China’s release this week of new draft rules governing the generation of AI content, coming just months after the launch of ChatGPT, might give the impression leaders are scrambling to catch up. But for years now, the Chinese Communist Party has planned to power up AI innovations — even as it contains them.

China’s Propaganda Machine is Calling

Feb 16, 2023 | CMP Staff

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Human Resources posted its 2023 call for the hiring of positions within the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department and its subsidiary departments. Could this be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for?

Cai Qi Leads Propaganda Ministers Conference

Jan 5, 2023 | CMP Staff

Cai Qi, the Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of ideology, led a national meeting of propaganda ministers in Beijing this week. The national strategy for media and ideology boils down to this simple formula: unquestioning obedience to Xi Jinping.

Reporting Achievements

Dec 19, 2022 | David Bandurski

“History illuminates the future, and the journey has no end,” Xinhua chief Fu Hua wrote in the soaring conclusion to a recent piece on his news agency’s obedience to Xi Jinping. But when history conveys no real lessons, when its primary business is to construct models of achievement and greatness, what it reveals instead is the rottenness at the core of the politics that have wrought it.

The Good Journalist

Nov 8, 2022 | CMP Staff

Media across China are commemorating the country’s official Journalists’ Day today, celebrating the role of the reporter. But in today’s China, what separates the good from the bad?

Eliminating Unformed Threats

Sep 16, 2022 | Raphael Chan

A China Media Project study of the online information-related patents filed by one of China’s largest state-owned military technology suppliers sheds light on the government’s efforts to secure cyberspace before damaging public opinion emerges.

China’s Quiet Fury Over Xinjiang

Sep 2, 2022 | David Bandurski

We have been told that China is furious over the UN report on human rights in Xinjiang. But the revealing fact is that so far Chinese media have spoken only to the rest of the world — and virtually zero mention of the report can be found inside the country.

Don’t You Dare Say “WeChat”

Jul 27, 2022 | Stella Chen

Facing strict curbs on social media, Chinese users have long used creative wordplay such as homonyms and intentionally misspelled words to tiptoe around censorship. Now, as platforms enforce their own word restrictions to hold on to traffic and hold off rivals, content creators have a whole new set of words to avoid. And for some, frustrations are mounting.

Rewarding Compliance

Jul 21, 2022 | David Bandurski

This month China announced its preliminary selections for the China Press Awards, the “highest award for outstanding national journalism.” Under the country’s tightly-controlled media system, what exactly amounts to excellence?

“Clear and Bright” for the CCP Congress

Jul 19, 2022 | CMP Staff

Announcing a two-month “special action” to clean up content on social media, short video platforms, and streaming services, Chinese authorities say the goal is to protect the country’s youth. But official statements earlier this year point to one clear purpose — paving the way for quieting dissent ahead of the CCP’s 20th National Congress.

Hijacking Digital Literacy

Jul 13, 2022 | David Bandurski

In much of the world, digital literacy centers on giving citizens the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be safe and empowered in cyberspace. In China, related initiatives are enmeshed with the far more basic goal of ideological and political control.

CNKI’s Security Problem

Jul 6, 2022 | Stella Chen

A national security review of China’s leading academic research database, announced last month by cyberspace authorities, is not so much about sensitive content as about the potential sensitivities of public access.

Xinhua’s Innovative Party Man

Jun 8, 2022 | David Bandurski

The newly appointed president of China’s top official newswire is about loyalty to the CCP through and through. But some say he also wants to innovate, breaking new ground and doing the “propaganda that cannot be seen.”

A License for Control

Jun 2, 2022 | CMP Staff

China’s government insists that its press licensing system ensures the professionalism of news coverage and safeguards reporting access for journalists. But press cards are ultimately designed with one key purpose in mind – ensuring news media stay in line.

New Licensing System for Online Dramas

Jun 1, 2022 | CMP Staff

From today forward, online dramas in China will be issued formal distribution licenses similar to coveted “Dragon Label” appearing in front of box office films. The move, Chinese experts say, will ensure quality . . . and control.

Speaking Loud for Xi Jinping

May 18, 2022 | Stella Chen

The shrill call of the loudspeaker, once a staple of political and economic life in pre-reform China, is a sound now returning to the countryside as ideology takes center stage in the New Era.

When Media Test Negative for Journalism

May 16, 2022 | CMP Staff

False positives reported by residents in Shanghai last week raised serious questions about the integrity of the Covid testing process on which strict lockdowns are based under the “zero Covid” policy. Why aren’t Chinese media pursuing this important story?

Taking Tedros at His Word

May 13, 2022 | David Bandurski

WHO’s director general spoke his mind this week about China’s “zero Covid” policy. The swift response from China’s censors reveals a deep ambivalence about the foreign voice and its power to uplift or criticize.

Developing Online Media Control

May 3, 2022 | CMP Staff

The 2021 China Online Media Development Report, released by the State Information Center last week, offers an interesting glimpse into CCP thinking on both the transformation of Party-led media and the operationalizing of private online platforms in the digital era.

Convergence at the Grassroots

Apr 26, 2022 | Stella Chen

As the Chinese Communist Party seeks to better “guide the masses,” directing the media they consume, media convergence has become a priority all the way down to the county level.

Anchoring Party Dominance

Apr 20, 2022 | CMP Staff

Gathering at a symposium in Beijing this week, television and radio hosts from across China were reminded of the only journalism value that truly matters – loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and its values.

President Who?

Apr 1, 2022 | David Bandurski

Through the buzz of coverage in China about the “Russia-Ukraine conflict,” the conspicuous absence of Zelensky from the Party’s flagship newspaper is a salient illustration of China’s alignment with Russia.

Moving on from Tragedy

Mar 29, 2022 | David Bandurski

The memory of the crash just over a week ago of China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735 is fresh and painful for many Chinese, not least the families, friends and communities of the victims. But according to the dictates of news and public opinion control under the Chinese Communist Party, it is time to move on.

Telling the Story of the CCP Journalist

Mar 22, 2022 | Stella Chen

Xi Jinping emphasized six years ago that media “must be surnamed Party,” and journalists must love and serve the CCP. In a feature story campaign over the past year, official media and press authorities have tried to highlight young post-90s journalists who exemplify this attitude of loyalty.

Re-branded CAC Journal Launches

Mar 21, 2022 | CMP Staff

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s chief internet monitoring and control body, has launched its re-branded official journal with a feature paying tribute to Xi Jinping “leading at the helm.”

University Press Creates Political Review Team

Mar 8, 2022 | David Bandurski

In a further sign of political tightening in China ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party this fall, the China Renmin University Press announced on February 23 that it is forming a Political Content Review Committee.

Empowering China’s Digital Informants

Feb 7, 2022 | CMP Staff

The Chinese Communist Party has built the world’s most comprehensive human and technical architecture for information control and manipulation. But in policing online content undesirable to the regime, it must rely on more than Party-state enforcement and platform compliance. It must have the active participation of millions of users.

Meta-Propaganda In the Digital Age

Jan 27, 2022 | David Bandurski

As the CCP’s system of domestic propaganda changes to accommodate digital media developments, the story of this transformation is another success story for propagandists to tell.

Xinhua Chief Takes Charge at the ACJA

Jan 19, 2022 | David Bandurski

The president of the CCP’s Xinhua News Agency has been formally appointed as the head of China’s national association for journalists, an important layer in official controls on the media. What does this mean? More of the same.

A Long Road to the CCP Congress

Jan 6, 2022 | CMP Staff

Buckle your seatbelts for an extended tour this year through the official discourse of power and succession. 2022 has hardly begun, but for the propaganda ministers of the CCP there can be no doubt that the year’s biggest news story – the Beijing Winter Olympics notwithstanding – will be unfolding more than 10 months from now.

Short Take on China’s Short Video Rules

Dec 20, 2021 | Stella Chen

An updated list of content restrictions for short video platforms, released last week by the China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA), adds a few familiar new political priorities to the old 2019 list — including respect for the CCP’s new resolution on history and Xi Jinping’s claim on the soul of 21st century Marxism.

The Trouble With Influence

Dec 16, 2021 | David Bandurski

In its latest crackdown on social media influencers, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced yesterday that it had shut down around 20,000 “top online influencer accounts” (头部账号), including that of a well-known former magazine editor detained back in October on charges that he had “insulted heroes and martyrs.”

Searching for Peng Shuai

Nov 23, 2021 | David Bandurski

Through posts on Twitter and Facebook, Chinese state media outlets and associated personalities have tried to ease concerns about the wellbeing of tennis star Peng Shuai. But the extreme nature of the restraints on speech about Peng, and the appropriation of her voice by the organs of external propaganda, should be seen as sufficient proof that she is now subject to restraints on her personal freedom.

Civilizing Cyberspace

Nov 19, 2021 | David Bandurski

As officials, academics and internet luminaries meet in Beijing today for China’s first “Internet Civilization Conference,” the talk will be of online management concepts in the New Era — but the underlying priorities will be old and familiar.

Visas and Vitriol

Nov 16, 2021 | CMP Staff

As reactions outside China this week have decried the denial of a visa to Economist correspondent Sue-Lin Wong by Hong Kong authorities as a sign of the further deterioration of rights in the city, reactions inside China have been antagonistic and personal — resorting to familiar motifs about the prejudices of foreign journalists and the patriotic obligations of those of Chinese ethnicity.

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