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

Covid Protests In China: The crackdown, including the tracking and questioning of protesters, comes alongside the easing of pandemic restrictions in China.

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.

Covid Protests In China: Barricades erected along Wulumuqi Road, a site of earlier protests, in Shanghai, China. (Bloomberg)

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.