Editing Internet censorship in China (section)

===COVID-19 pandemic===
{{Main|COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China#Censorship and police responses}}
[[Reporters without Borders]] has accused that China's policies prevented an earlier warning about the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. At least one doctor suspected as early as 25 December 2019 that an outbreak was occurring, but arguably may have been deterred from informing the media due to harsh punishment for whistleblowers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=David |title=China's media censorship could have cost thousands of lives by preventing early coronavirus warning, journalism watchdog argues |url=https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-media-censorship-could-have-cost-thousands-lives-preventing-early-coronavirus-warning-1494218 |access-date=12 April 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=25 March 2020 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412014034/https://www.newsweek.com/chinas-media-censorship-could-have-cost-thousands-lives-preventing-early-coronavirus-warning-1494218 |archive-date=12 April 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the pandemic, academic research concerning the origins of the virus was censored.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Kirchgaessner|first1=Stephanie|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/china-clamping-down-on-coronavirus-research-deleted-pages-suggest|title=China clamping down on coronavirus research, deleted pages suggest|date=2020-04-11|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2020-04-11|url-status=live|last2=Graham-Harrison|first2=Emma|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|last3=Kuo|first3=Lily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411175908/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/11/china-clamping-down-on-coronavirus-research-deleted-pages-suggest|archive-date=11 April 2020}}</ref> An investigation by [[ProPublica]] and ''[[The New York Times]]'' found that the Cyberspace Administration of China placed censorship restrictions on Chinese media outlets and social media to avoid mentions of the COVID-19 outbreak, mentions of [[Li Wenliang]], and "activated legions of fake online commenters to flood social sites with distracting chatter".<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Zhong|first1=Raymond|last2=Mozur|first2=Paul|last3=Krolik|first3=Aaron|last4=Kao|first4=Jeff|date=19 December 2020|title=Leaked Documents Show How China's Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus|work=[[ProPublica]]|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=19 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219101738/https://www.propublica.org/article/leaked-documents-show-how-chinas-army-of-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-the-coronavirus|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late 2022, demonstrations erupted across China against the [[Zero-COVID]] measures and various other issues. The catalyst for these protests was a fire in an Ürümqi apartment, which claimed 10 lives in November, during a persistent COVID-19 lockdown. In response, authorities acted to eliminate digital discussions regarding the protests. This included deleting posts, imposing limits on search capabilities, and erasing calls for the freeing of detained demonstrators. The [[Cyberspace Administration of China]] mandated that digital platforms increase their content moderation teams to erase any mentions of tools that might allow users to bypass censorship, aiming to cut off any pathways to openly discussing the protests through unfiltered internet channels. Following these events, the government lifted restrictions associated with COVID-19, leading to a surge in infection rates and fatalities. Sina Weibo, a major social media platform, blocked search results related to the “pandemic in Beijing” and prevented live conversations about the consequences of lifting lockdown measures. In January 2023, the authorities initiated a digital clampdown to eliminate "gloomy sentiments" fueled by what they termed as false information concerning the pandemic, and any digital content mentioning infection rates or fatalities was promptly deleted.<ref name="freedom house 2023"/>