Freedom House monitored an uptick in censorship within China during the annual National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
This statement was originally published on freedomhouse.org, as part of the China Media Bulletin 169 – March 2023.
CCP censorship linked to chatbot anomalies: Several recent events demonstrated the effects Chinese Communist Party censorship could have on the rollout and operations of artificial intelligence chatbots. On March 12, Radio Free Asia’s Asia Fact Check Lab published the results of tests conducted in English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese with Open AI’s ChatGPT. Researchers found inconsistencies when the application responded to questions on politically sensitive topics such as mass detentions in Xinjiang and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, reflecting the greater dominance the CCP has over simplified Chinese language material online compared to English. Within China, on February 22, Nikkei Asia reported that government regulators had told tech firms like Tencent and Ant to discontinue access to ChatGPT, and to alert regulators about any plans to develop their own AI-driven chatbots. Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reporters tested several Chinese chatbots, finding that they refused to answer questions related to Xi Jinping, prompting joking online references to Chinese Chat-GPT-like services as “ChatCCP.” On March 16, Baidu held a preliminary launch of its much-awaited Ernie Bot with a prerecorded rather than live demonstration, disappointing investors and ushering in a 6-percent drop in stock value. The application will initially be available to a select number of users but plans are to integrate it into Baidu’s search and other products. Ahead of the rollout, reports emerged of employees scrambling and some selling shares in advance for fear of a sell-off.
Restricted foreign journalist access to “Two Sessions,” impersonations: Several foreign correspondents reported difficulty covering the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) sessions held in Beijing from March 5 to 13. Some were denied access even after receiving accreditation, while others had their applications rejected all together. Among the outlets unable to attend were the Australian and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). One reporter from Singapore’s Straits Times noted that she saw only 20 China-based foreign correspondents at the opening ceremony and only 40 at the close, fewer than in the past. Separately, two Reuters journalists based in China and Hong Kong were impersonated by unknown individuals across multiple social media platforms including Telegram and Instagram, with the fake accounts used to contact Chinese activists and dissidents. The impersonator (or impersonators) sought information about protests against strict COVID-19 controls that took place in late 2022. The annual report of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China published on March 1 describes the broader set of controls and risks facing foreign journalists in China, their Chinese colleagues, and sources.
Weibo restricts comments, manipulates NPC-related trending topics: Reflecting the political sensitivities surrounding the event, Sina Weibo intensified censorship related to the “Two Sessions” of the NPC and the CPPCC, particularly on Xi Jinping’s appointment to a third term as head of state and the rotation of premiers from Li Keqiang to Li Qiang. Multiple observers documented comments being shut off for online articles about the premier transition, only official or verified accounts being permitted to post about even innocuous aspects of the event or quotes from Xi’s speech, and searches for the number 2,952 – the total of votes Xi received in his unanimous approval – being blocked. On March 13, the topic “China’s people become the masters of their own fate” was at the top of the list of trending topics alongside other NPC-related items, although Weibo data showed that Oscar wins was a much more commented upon topic by ordinary users at the time.
