Overseas censorship of Chinese issues


Overseas censorship of Chinese issues refers to censorship outside the People's Republic of China of topics considered sensitive by the ruling Communist Party of China. Censored topics include the political status of Taiwan, human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang re-education camps and the persecution of Uyghurs, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the PRC Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, the persecution of Falun Gong, and human rights in China in general.
Censorship is undertaken by foreign companies wishing to do business in China, a growing phenomenon given the country's increasing economic prominence. Companies seeking to avoid offending Chinese customers have engaged in self-censorship and, if accused of offending PRC government sensibilities, have performed "a 21st century kowtow" by posting apologies or making statements in support of government policy. These actions reflect the companies' prioritisation of profit over business ethics, an impulse exploited by the PRC.
The PRC government encourages its netizens to combat any perceived threats to the territorial integrity of China, including opposing any foreign expressions of support for protestors or perceived separatist movements, with the country's "Patriotic Education" system since the 1990s emphasising the dangers of foreign influence and the country's century of humiliation by outside powers.
Censorship of overseas services is also undertaken by companies based in China, such as WeChat and TikTok. Chinese citizens living abroad as well as family residing in China have also been subject to threats to their employment, education, pension, and business opportunities if they engage in expression critical of the Chinese government or its policies. With limited pushback by foreign governments and corporations, these issues have led to growing concern about self-censorship, compelled speech and a chilling effect on free speech in other countries.

Censored topics

Traditionally foreign companies wishing to do business in China needed to avoid references to the "Three Ts and the Two Cs": Tibet, Taiwan, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, "cults" such as Falun Gong, and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. This included related topics such as the Dalai Lama who the Chinese government considers a subversive Tibetan "splittist" and opposes any expressions of support from foreign governments or organisations.
In the early 21st century, companies faced potential backlash on a broader range of issues relating to China, such as failing to include Hong Kong or Taiwan as part of China on their websites in violation of the One China Policy. Further sensitive topics include: comments about leader Xi Jinping's weight, including comparisons to rotund children's character Winnie the Pooh; recognition of the Chinese government's Nine-Dash Line in the South China Sea dispute; the government's cultural genocide of Muslim Uyghurs and use of Xinjiang re-education camps; and expressions of support for the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.

Notable examples

Academia

There is growing concern that the Chinese government is trying to silence its critics abroad, particularly in academic settings. Historically censorship in China was contained within the country's borders, but following the ascension of Xi Jinping to General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the focus has expanded to silencing dissent and criticism abroad, particularly in academia.
There have been a number of incidents of Chinese students studying abroad in Western universities seeking to censor academics or students who espouse views inconsistent with the official Chinese Communist Party position. This includes intimidation and violence against Auckland University and University of Queensland protesters demonstrating in support of Hong Kong and Uyghurs, challenging lecturers whose course materials do not follow the One China Policy by listing Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate countries, and tearing down Lennon Walls in support of the Hong Kong democracy movement.
In 2019 the PRC Consul-General in Brisbane, Xu Jie, faced legal proceedings by Drew Pavlou, a student who had organised a demonstration in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. Pavlou alleged that Jie incited death threats by accusing him of "anti-Chinese separatism". Pavlou was later suspended for two years by the university over allegations of discriminatory bullying and harassment of university staff and students, which he claimed was intended to silence his criticism of the university's close links to the PRC and reliance on Chinese student tuition fees.
Academics in British universities teaching on Chinese topics were also warned by the Chinese government to support the Chinese Communist Party or be refused entry to the country. American universities have engaged in self-censorship on Chinese issues, including North Carolina State University cancelling a visit by the Dalai Lama in 2009 and University of Maryland Chinese student Yang Shuping apologising after harsh reaction to her commencement speech praising the "fresh air" of democracy and freedom in the United States.
In November 2019, Columbia University cancelled a panel on human rights in China titled "Panopticism with Chinese Characteristics: Human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party and how they affect the world." Panel organizers criticized the university for allegedly compromising academic freedom by acquiescing to undue influence and threats of disturbances.

Confucius Institutes

Concerns have been raised about the activities of Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes in western universities, which are subject to rules set by Beijing-based Hanban that prevent the discussion of sensitive topics including Tibet, Tiananmen Square and Taiwan. Institute learning materials also omit instances of humanitarian catastrophes under the Chinese Communist Party such as the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Foreign Policy has likened Confucius Institutes to the "anaconda in the chandelier"; by their mere presence, they impact what staff and students feel safe discussing which leads to self-censorship. American critics include FBI director Christopher Wray and politicians Seth Moulton, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
Human Rights Watch considers the Confucius Institutes to be extensions of the Chinese government that prioritise political loyalty in their hiring decisions.
Concerns arose following the 2014 Braga incident, in which materials for the Hanban-sponsored European Association for Chinese Studies 2014 conference in Braga were stolen and censored on the orders of Xu Lin, Director-General of Hanban and Chief Executive of the Confucius Institute Headquarters. Lin ordered the removal of references to Taiwanese academic institutions on the basis that they were "contrary to Chinese regulations", which the Wall Street Journal described as a "bullying approach to academic freedom". The incident led to a number of universities banning Confucius Institutes from their campuses, including Stockholm University, Copenhagen Business School, Stuttgart Media University, the University of Hohenheim, the University of Lyon, the University of Chicago, Pennsylvania University, the University of Michigan and McMaster University. Public schools in Toronto and New South Wales have also ceased their involvement in the program.
In 2019 media reports emerged that four of the University of Queensland's courses relating to China had been funded by the local Confucius Institute, with the university's senate ending such deals in May 2019. The university's vice-chancellor, Peter Høj, had previously been a senior consultant to Hanban.
Several Confucius Institute contracts included clauses requiring the host university to follow Confucius Institute Headquarters' edicts on "teaching quality", raising concerns about foreign influence and academic freedom. In 2020 the University of Melbourne and University of Queensland renegotiated their contracts to safeguard teaching autonomy in light of new Federal government laws requiring transparency on foreign influence.

Chinese Students and Scholars Association

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association has branches in various overseas university campuses. Each association branch is partly funded by, and reports back to, the local Chinese Embassy. One of the aims of the Association is to "love the motherland". There is a history of branches pressuring their host university to cancel talks relating to Tibet, the Chinese democracy movement, Uyghurs and the Hong Kong protests.
The McMaster University branch in Canada had its club status revoked in 2019 after coordinating its opposition to a speech by Uyghur activist Rukiye Turdush with the local Chinese consulate, including sending back footage, in violation of student union rules. The Adelaide University branch was deregistered for failing to follow democratic procedures.

Airlines

In 2018, the Civil Aviation Administration of China sent letters to 44 international airlines demanding that they cease referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries on their websites, or risk being classified as "severely untrustworthy" and subject to sanctions. Despite being criticised by the United States government as "Orwellian nonsense", all airlines complied. In 2020, Taiwan News reported that Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had convinced 22 airlines to undo the change.
AirlineDateDetails
American AirlinesJuly 2018The American carrier stopped listing Taiwan as a country on its website.
Delta AirlinesJuly 2018The American carrier stopped listing Taiwan as a country on its website.
Qantas4 June 2018The Australian carrier announced it would list Taiwan as a Chinese province rather than a separate country on its website, after earlier stating that listing Taiwan and Hong Kong as countries on its website was an "oversight".
United AirlinesJuly 2018The American carrier stopped listing Taiwan as a country on its website.

Film industry

Hollywood producers generally seek to comply with the Chinese government's censorship requirements in a bid to access the country's restricted and lucrative cinema market, with the second-largest box office in the world as of 2019.
This includes prioritising sympathetic portrayals of Chinese characters in movies, such as changing the villains in Red Dawn from Chinese to North Korean and making Chinese scientists the saviors of civilisation in the disaster film 2012. Similarly, the 2019 Dreamworks animated film Abominable included the PRC's nine-dash line in a map of the South China Sea shown during the movie, which resulted in the film being banned in Vietnam as it disputes the PRC's claim.
In 2016, Marvel Entertainment attracted criticism for its decision to cast Tilda Swinton as the "Ancient One" in the film adaptation Doctor Strange, using a white woman to play a traditionally Tibetan character. The film's co-writer, C. Robert Cargill, stated in an interview that this was done to avoid angering China:
Although Tibet was previously a cause célèbre in Hollywood, featuring in films including Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet, in the 21st century this is no longer the case. Actor and high-profile Tibet supporter Richard Gere stated that he was no longer welcome to participate in mainstream Hollywood films after criticising the PRC government in 1993, acting in a 1997 film critical of the PRC's legal system, and calling for a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

International organisations

China strongly opposes the participation of Taiwan in international organisations as a violation of the One China Principle, and Taiwan may only participate in international bodies as "Chinese Taipei" or "Taiwan, China".
Chinese Taipei was initially agreed under the Nagoya Resolution as the name to be used for the Taiwanese team at the Olympic Games since the 1980s. Under PRC pressure, Taiwan is referred to by other international organisations under different names, such as "Taiwan Province of China" by the International Monetary Fund and "Taiwan District" by the World Bank. The PRC government has also pressured international beauty pageants including Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss Earth to only allow Taiwanese contestants competing under the designation "Miss Chinese Taipei" rather than "Miss Taiwan".

Journalism

The PRC limits press freedom, with Xi Jinping telling state media outlets in 2016 that the Chinese Communist Party expects their "absolute loyalty". In Hong Kong, inconvenient journalists face censorship by stealth through targeted violence, arrests, withdrawal of official advertising and/or dismissal. Foreign journalists also face censorship given the ease with which their articles can be translated and shared across the country.
Foreign journalists have reported rising official interference with their work, with a 2016 Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China survey finding 98% considered reporting conditions failed to meet international standards. Interference includes withholding a visa to work in the country, harassment and violence by secret police and requiring press conference questions to be submitted for pre-screening. Journalists also reported that local sources who speak to them face harassment, intimidation or detention by government officials, leading to a decreased willingness to cooperate with journalists. Foreign journalists also face hacking of their email accounts by the PRC to discover their sources.
The 2017 results indicated increasing violence and obstruction, with BBC reporter Matthew Goddard being punched by assailants who attempted to steal his equipment after he refused to show them footage taken. In 2017, 73% of foreign journalists reported being restricted or prohibited from reporting in Xinjiang, up from 42% in 2016. Journalists also reported more pressure from PRC diplomats on their headquarters to delete stories.
Visas have been denied to a number of foreign journalists who wrote articles displeasing to the PRC government, such as the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Expelled journalists include L'Obs reporter Ursula Gauthier, Al Jazeera journalist Melissa Chan in 2012 and Buzzfeed China bureau chief Megha Rajagopalan in 2018.
As a result of increasing intimidation and the threat of being denied a visa, foreign journalists operating in China have increasingly engaged in self-censorship. Topics avoided by journalists include Xinjiang, Tibet and Falun Gong. Despite this, controversial stories continue to be published on occasion, such as the hidden wealth of political elites including Wen Jiabao and Xi Jinping.
The PRC government has also increasingly sought to influence public opinion abroad by hiring foreign reporters for state media outlets and paying for officially sanctioned "China Watch" inserts to be included in overseas newspapers including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the Telegraph.

Global political leadership

Since the Xi Jinping took leadership roles in foreign affairs for the People's Republic of China, the regime has adopted "a truculent posture" in international relations, including what is said about China or its interests. The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has observed that "Xi doesn’t want to censor information just in his own country; he also wants to censor our own discussions in the West." A key example is how Beijing opposes any meeting by foreign politicians with the Dalai Lama, even in a personal capacity. However, its response differs depending on the political leaders and nations involved.

Australia

By November 2019 the PRC refused travel visas to Australian politicians Andrew Hastie and James Paterson after they criticised the Chinese Communist Party, its interference in Australian politics and its poor human rights record. The Chinese Embassy stated that the pair needed to "repent" before they would be allowed into the country, which Hastie and Paterson refused.

Canada

In 2015 the PRC detained then deported a Chinese-Canadian politician Richard Lee on the basis he had "endangered national security" by speaking out against PRC interference in Canadian politics.

Germany

In 2016, the Chinese Ambassador to Germany "put massive pressure" on the Chairman of the Bundestag's Human Rights Committee, Michael Brand, a member of the conservative CDU party, in connection to his work exposing human rights abuses in Tibet. He later said, "Self-censorship is out of the question."
In August 2019, a delegation of the German Bundestag due to visit China had all their visas blocked as one of its members, Margarete Bause, a Green, is a vocal supporter of the Muslim Uyghur minority. She believes that to be "an attempt at silencing parliamentarians who support human rights loudly and clearly."

New Zealand

was Prime Minister of New Zealand and, after leaving politics, served as a director of China Construction Bank global board for six years from 2007 to 2013, then as Chair of China Construction Bank New Zealand up until 31 March 2019. In a case of what may be compelled speech, rather than restricted speech, the former Prime Minister appeared to write an opinion piece, "We need to learn to listen to China" in the Communist Party controlled newspaper, People's Daily. It contained strong endorsements of current Chinese foreign policy, such as “The belt and road initiative proposed by China is one of the greatest ideas we’ve ever heard globally. It is a forward-looking idea, and in my opinion, it has the potential to create the next wave of economic growth." Ms Shipley later denied ever writing the article."
In May 2020 efforts were made to silence criticism of China by Winston Peters, the current serving Foreign Minister of New Zealand. Matthew Hooton, a columnist at The New Zealand Herald threatened that Peters should be sacked if he insults China one more time. Hooton did not disclose his conflict of interest, that he has been Mongolia's Honorary Consul to New Zealand since December 2017.

Sweden

On 15 November 2019 the Culture Minister of Sweden, Amanda Lind, went against the wishes of the Communist Party of China leadership and awarded Gui Minhai the PEN Tucholsky prize in absentia. Mr Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish citizen had published poetry critical of communist China and was said to be preparing a book about the love life of Xi Jinping before he was arrested by Chinese security agents on a train from Shanghai to Beijing. Following the award, China's embassy in Stockholm released a statement saying that Minister Lind's attendance was "a serious mistake" and that "wrong deeds will only meet with bad consequences." In the days afterwards China's Ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou, announced that "two large delegations of businessmen who were planning to travel to Sweden have cancelled their trip" Ms Lind has already been threatened with a ban on entering China if she went ahead with the prize giving. Later that month the Ambassador later gave an interview on Swedish public radio in which he said, "We treat our friends with fine wine, but for our enemies we have shotguns."

United Kingdom

Also in 2019, the Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom warned that country's politicians against adopting a "colonial mindset" and observing limits in their comments on issues such as the Hong Kong protests and South China Sea dispute with China's neighbours. China later suspended the Stock Connect link between the Shanghai and London stock exchanges, in part due to the United Kingdom's support for Hong Kong protesters.

Publishing

drew criticism in 2017 for removing articles from its China Quarterly covering topics such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the Cultural Revolution to avoid having its Chinese operations shut down. Springer Nature also acceded to Chinese demands to censor articles relating to Chinese politics, Taiwan, Tibet and human rights.
In 2017 the Australian publisher Allen & Unwin refused to publish Clive Hamilton's book Silent Invasion about growing Chinese Communist Party influence in Australia, fearing potential legal action from the Chinese government or its local proxies under the auspices of the United Front Work Department.
Publishers using Chinese printers have also been subject to local censorship, even for books not intended for sale in China. Books with maps face particular scrutiny, with one Victoria University Press book Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica required to remove the English term "Mount Everest" in favour of the Chinese equivalent "Mount Qomolangma". This has led publishers to consider printers in alternative countries, such as Vietnam.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden criticised Chinese censors for removing passages in the translated version of his book Permanent Record, in which passages about authoritarianism, democracy, freedom of speech and privacy were removed.

Technology companies

Several American technology companies cooperate with Chinese government policies, including internet censorship, such as helping authorities build the Great Firewall of China to restrict access to sensitive information. Yahoo! drew controversy after supplying the personal data of its user Shi Tao to the PRC government, resulting in Tao's 10 year imprisonment for "leaking state secrets abroad". In 2006 Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and Cisco appeared before a congressional inquiry into their Chinese operations where their cooperation with censorship and privacy breaches of individuals faced criticism.
The Chinese government is increasingly pressuring overseas individuals and companies to cooperate with its censorship model, including in relation to overseas communications made by foreign people for non-Chinese audiences.

Other instances

The table below includes notable instances outside China where a government, company or other entity has censored a China-related issue.
EntityDateDetails
Microsoft4 January 2006The company removed the blog of Chinese journalist Zhao Jing from its MSN Spaces website, which was hosted on servers based in the United States.
NasdaqFebruary 2007In 2007 Nasdaq's Chinese representative Laurence Pan was detained and interrogated about access to its exchange by New Tang Dynasty Television, a Falun Gong-linked media organisation. That organisation was subsequently denied access by Nasdaq.
Eutelsat2008The media company cut New Tang Dynasty Television's signal to "show a good gesture to the Chinese government".
Government of Vietnam11 November 2011The country imprisoned two Falun Gong activists who transmitted radio messages into China for "illegal transmission of information on a telecommunications network".
Bing12 February 2014The search engine censored simplified Chinese language results for users in the United States for search terms including "Dalai Lama", "June 4 incident", Falun Gong and anti-censorship tool Freegate.
LinkedIn4 June 2014The company blocked users outside China from viewing content posted by Chinese users that is restricted by the Chinese government.
Chou Tzu-yu16 January 2016The Taiwan-born K-pop singer issued an apology for being pictured with the Taiwanese flag, following sustained online attacks on her and her band Twice by Chinese internet users.
Microsoft22 November 2016The company programmed its Chinese language artificial intelligence-based chatbot Xiaobing to avoid discussing sensitive topics such as Tiananmen Square.
Apple Inc.7 January 2017The company removed the New York Times app from its Chinese app store following Chinese government advice that it violated local regulations. This led to the company being accused by online advocates of "globalising Chinese censorship".
Allen & Unwin12 November 2017The Australian publisher refused to publish Clive Hamilton's book Silent Invasion about growing Chinese Communist Party influence in Australia on the basis that it feared legal action from the Chinese government or its proxies.
Marriott International12 January 2018The hotel chain issued an apology and was ordered by the Cyberspace Administration of China to shut its Chinese website and booking application for one week after an employee managing its social media "liked" a tweet thanking the company for listing Tibet as a country on a customer questionnaire alongside Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. After the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration ordered the company to "seriously deal with the people responsible", it dismissed the employee.
Mercedes Benz7 February 2018The German car maker issued an apology on Weibo for "hurting the feelings" of the people of China after quoting the Dalai Lama on Instagram, a service banned in China. The company also sent a formal letter to the Chinese Ambassador in Germany, stating that it had "no intention of questioning or challenging in any manner China's sovereignty or territorial integrity."
Gap Inc.15 May 2018The company apologised after photographs circulated of a t-shirt sold in Canada that featured a map of China omitting Taiwan, Tibet and China's South China Sea territorial claim.
TikTok25 September 2019The Guardian revealed the TikTok app's moderation guidelines prohibiting content mentioning Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence and Falun Gong. Content criticising the Chinese government's persecution of ethnic minorities or mentioning the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests are also removed. ByteDance, the app's Beijing-based owner responded to the media reports by stating that the leaked moderation guidelines were "outdated" and that it had introduced localised guidelines for different countries. Searches relating to Hong Kong on the app found no content referencing the ongoing protests. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also criticised the platform for its censorship of Hong Kong protest content, asking "is this the internet we want?"
Apple Inc.2 October 2019The company banned the HKmap.live app from its App Store, which allowed for crowd-sourced information about the location of protestors and police in Hong Kong. It did so on the basis that the app "allowed users to evade law enforcement". The same month Apple banned the Quartz app due to its coverage of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
Sheraton3 October 2019The chain's Stockholm hotel cancelled a celebration of Taiwan's Double Ten national holiday after pressure from the Chinese Ambassador; it was moved to a local museum.
Tiffany & Co.7 October 2019The jewellery company deleted a photo on one of its social media accounts of a woman covering one eye, which a number of Chinese internet users considered to evoke the image of a Hong Kong protestor who had been shot in one eye.
Activision Blizzard8 October 2019In the Blitzchung controversy, the company withdrew the prize from the winner of an online game tournament after he wore a mask and spoke in support of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests in a post-game interview, stating "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times". The company is partly owned by Tencent.
ESPN8 October 2019Chuck Salituro, the channel's senior news director, sent an internal memo to staff banning any discussion of political issues concerning China or Hong Kong when covering the controversy of Daryl Morey's tweet in support of Hong Kong protestors.
Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia9 October 2019Center staff removed fans shouting "Free Hong Kong" at a pre-season game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Guangzhou Loong Lions.
National Basketball Association10 October 2019CNN journalist Christina Macfarlane was shut down and had her microphone removed at an NBA press conference after asking players James Harden and Russell Westbrook if they would feel differently about speaking out in future following the NBA's censorship of comments that are critical of China.
Christian Dior17 October 2019Christian Dior issued a public apology on its Weibo account for displaying a map during a university presentation that did not include Taiwan.
Maserati25 October 2019Maserati asked a local car dealership to cut all ties with Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards and stated that it "firmly upholds the one-China principle."
Shutterstock6 November 2019In November 2019, The Intercept reported that Shutterstock censors certain search results for users in mainland China. The six banned terms were "President Xi", "Chairman Mao", "Taiwan flag", "dictator", "yellow umbrella" and "Chinese flag" and variations. After 180 employees signed a petition opposing the censorship, company executive Stan Pavlovsky told staff that anyone opposed to its self-censorship was free to resign.
WeChat25 November 2019Reports emerged that China-based WeChat was censoring users in the United States communicating about Hong Kong politics.
DC Comics27 November 2019DC Comics removed a promotional Batman poster after it triggered criticism from mainland China netizens that its imagery, featuring Batwoman throwing a molotov cocktail beside the words "The future is young", was sympathetic to Hong Kong protesters.
TikTok28 November 2019The platform apologised after blocking American user Feroza Aziz following a video which she made drawing attention to the mistreatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang re-education camps, which she disguised as a make-up tutorial to evade censorship.
Condé Nast6 December 2019GQ magazine removed Xi Jinping from its "Worst Dressed" list on its website along with the caption: "It is not Hong Kong's courageous freedom fighters that Xi Jinping should have a problem with. It's his tailor. Xi gets totalitarian style cues from his hero, the mass murderer Chairman Mao, who enforced a dour and plain dress code for the Communist Party."
Arsenal F.C.15 December 2019Arsenal footballer Mesut Özil posted a poem on his social media account denouncing China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang re-education camps and the silence of Muslim countries on the issue. Arsenal later released a statement distancing itself from the comments. China's state broadcaster China Central Television responded two days later by removing the match between Arsenal and Manchester City from its schedule.
World Health Organisation28 March 2020Senior advisor Bruce Aylward faced criticism for saying he could not hear a question from RTHK journalist Yvonne Tong about whether Taiwan could join the WHO, asking her to move onto the next question then terminating the interview when she repeated it. The World Health Organisation has also faced criticism for downplaying Taiwan's success in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Union24 April 2020The organisation agreed to censor references to the Chinese origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, with research suggesting that self-censorship on sensitive topics that may offend the PRC is commonplace.
YouTube26 May 2020Reports emerged that since October 2019, comments posted with the Chinese characters or were being automatically deleted within 15 seconds.
Zoom12 June 2020The videoconferencing provider confirmed that it had suspended the accounts of users based in the United States and Hong Kong who booked meeting to discuss the Tiananmen Square Massacre and Hong Kong protests following PRC Government complaints, and that it would seek to limit such actions to people based in the mainland in future.

Opposition and resistance

In 2010 Google opposed China's censorship policies, ultimately leaving the country. By 2017 the company had dropped its opposition, including planning a Chinese Communist Party-approved censored search engine named Project Dragonfly. Work on the project was terminated in 2019.
In 2019 Comedy Central's animated sitcom South Park released the episode "Band in China", which satirised the self-censorship of Hollywood producers to suit Chinese censors and featured one character yelling "Fuck the Chinese government!". This was followed by a mock apology from the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which also made light of a recent controversy involving the NBA's alleged appeasement of Chinese government censorship:
The show was banned in mainland China following the incident. Protesters in Hong Kong screened the episode on the city's streets. The musician Zedd was banned from China after liking a tweet from South Park.
On 4 June 2020, politicians from eight democratic countries formed the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party alliance focused on concerns with the PRC and the Chinese Communist Party, including its attempts to censor or punish those making adverse comments. It is chaired by Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the British Conservative Party.