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

The Chinese government has decided to implement the highest “emergency response” level of censorship in the wake of the Covid protests, according to leaked directives accessed by AFP.According to the news agency, the government is expected to restrict VPNs and any other methods of bypassing the online censorship.

Social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat have become the preferred move of communication for protesters and although the Chinese authorities have kept a tight watch of them, users have found a way to access foreign sites through VPNs.

The directive reportedly shows a spike in the number of people trying to go past the “Great Firewall” that allows the government to monitor all online activity. According to the translation provided by the China Digital Times, the directive speaks about the concerns of the government at present and initiates the “Level I Internet Emergency Response, the highest level of content management”.

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It adds that the authorities are looking to take a “hands-on approach” when it comes to content management and the main objective will be to quickly find and identify mentions of what they referred to as “offline disturbances” and “recent high-profile events in various provinces”.

“The incident on November 24 triggered expressions of various grievances,” it said.

The incident mentioned in the directive was the building fire in Urumqi which claimed the lives of 10 people and was one of the main reasons behind the widespread protests in China.

“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.