10 May 2021

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), China continues to elevate its internet censorship, surveillance, and propaganda efforts to unprecedented levels, positioning itself as the most oppressive country for journalists globally.

RSF’s annual press freedom index, which evaluates 180 countries and territories, underscores a Chinese surge in repression and assaults on journalists worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, RSF noted that China remains the foremost incarceration of press freedom advocates globally, with over 120 individuals detained, often under perilous circumstances.

The Chinese authorities have intensified their harassment of foreign correspondents, as highlighted in a report by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, which reported the expulsion of at least 18 foreign correspondents in the initial half of 2020, along with the BBC’s broadcasting ban.

Furthermore, RSF underscores that internet censorship in China has reached unprecedented heights in recent years, with a formidable contingent of censors deployed under President Xi Jinping to target the country’s nearly 989 million internet users. These censors employ tactics such as website shutdowns, IP address blocking, web page filtering, and even keyword blocking on social media platforms. According to RSF’s earlier report from March, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) shut down nearly 130,000 social media accounts and over 12,000 websites between January and September 2020.