The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is among the world’s most systematic suppressors of free speech. For many PRC citizens and diaspora members—not to mention citizens of other countries around the world—last month’s anniversary of the June 1989 Tiananmen Massacre may have passed with little remembrance. This was not solely due to the simple passage of time. Rather, the CCP’s draconian censorship machine has been hard at work using legal pressure, human minders, and advanced digital techniques leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to screen and censor vast amounts of content.
China routinely ranks near the very bottom of free speech indices (for example garnering a 9/100 on Freedom House’s 2024 Freedom on the Net Report). But beyond censoring its own citizens, Beijing has become adept at using its “sharp power,” the ability to coerce individuals and governments beyond its borders.
In collaboration with NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies, scholars have analyzed how the CCP deploys these tools as part of a broader strategy to shape global narratives, censor and suppress dissent, and bolster its legitimacy.
The Role of Propaganda and Censorship
Censorship and the “guidance of public opinion,” in CCP parlance, are not just routine for the regime; such activities form a core part of its mission. As expert Anne-Marie Brady wrote for NED a decade ago, “Since 1989, propaganda has been the lifeblood of the Chinese party-state.” CCP ideologists do not see their outputs as just one more entry in a competitive marketplace of ideas; rather, as Brady noted, “you can’t have successful propaganda without censorship.” Indeed, the entire Chinese media ecosystem, including both traditional and digital platforms, functions under a paradigm where criticism of government policies (such as Beijing’s draconian “Zero-COVID” strategy) is strictly forbidden. So, too, are mentions of certain topics—such as Tibet or the CCP’s treatment of the Uyghurs—that do not strictly align with regime-prescribed narratives.
Those in China who wish to access information, or to state opinions that go against Beijing’s propaganda lines, should be free to do so without fear of censorship. NED is thus proud to be a strong supporter of activists who archive and save media posts censored by Beijing, ensuring that the creative and daring commentary and criticism of Chinese netizens is not permanently deleted. It is also why we support activists working tirelessly to break through China’s so-called Great Firewall and allow citizens to access uncensored media.
“The CCP’s censorship and propaganda machine are ‘accompanied by an authoritarian determination to monopolize ideas, suppress alternative narratives, and exploit partner institutions.’” – Testimony by NED VP Christopher Walker before the House Select Committee on the CCP, December 5, 2023
How the CCP Tries to Manipulate Free Media and Promote Its Propaganda Globally
The CCP has spent years refining a sophisticated strategy to shape international perceptions of its image and legitimacy. This strategy rests on legal and economic arrangements that often undermine the sovereignty or integrity of foreign countries, international organizations, and large corporations. As Sarah Cook noted in a 2021 report for NED, “Beijing[‘s] … content-sharing agreements and media partnerships result in vast amounts of Chinese state media content dominating portions of the news or stifling independent coverage that is critical of [China].” One common tactic is for foreign media outlets to run paid editorial supplements from PRC propagandists, which can often be hard for readers to distinguish from the reporting or editorial content of the host newspaper. American newspapers like the Des Moines Register and Washington Post have, for instance, run supplements from China Daily, some of which criticized U.S. policy on China and spoke approvingly of Xi Jinping. In 2024, China massively increased the number of its international communications centers in order to form partnerships with compliant media outlets around the world.
Sarah Cook’s Report for the International Forum for Democratic Studies on “China’s Global Media Footprint.’
Where widespread financial incentives lead foreign media outlets to suppress reporting that might offend the CCP, this is censorship on a massive global scale. This web of pressures and incentives, which Beijing would prefer to keep hidden, should be exposed for all to see. The Forum has been instrumental in identifying and warning of such cases of authoritarian media influence through tools like our Sharp Power Research Portal. As far back as 2013 and again in 2021, NED’s research centers, including the Center for International Media Assistance as well as the Forum, have sounded the alarm about the CCP’s growing global media footprint and identified opportunities for NED’s civic partners to compete. In contested media environments outside China where the CCP is seeking to project its influence, as well as in Chinese diaspora communities, NED’s partners support independent information free from government influence.
An example of a search for resources on PRC media and information manipulation on the Forum’s Sharp Power Research Portal.
Beijing’s Quest to Build a Techno-Police State
For decades, the CCP has been at the forefront of digital authoritarianism. It has pioneered the development of internet censorship technologies. Its “smart cities” and other digital surveillance tools further stifle free expression by placing citizens under a government microscope. As the CCP integrates new technological advances into its apparatus, the state is growing more repressive. Looking ahead to the future, the CCP is investing heavily in developing data-intensive technologies—including advanced AI, quantum computing, central bank digital currency, and neurotechnologies—that could be used to surveil, control, and otherwise silence critics. As a new Forum report by Valentin Weber underscores, PRC entities are not just mastering these new methods of digital repression for domestic use—they are exporting the tech abroad, too.
A world where Beijing is allowed to lead the development of new technologies such as these is a world where no one’s speech is safe. The Forum has convened cutting-edge thinkers on democracy and technology to take stock of this threat and devise strategies to keep free speech and privacy at the heart of future technological developments. In the coming years, civic partners, technologists, and regulators must identify effective, forward-looking approaches for confronting data-centric authoritarianism’s threat to human rights and freedom.
At an event featuring Hudson Institute’s Miles Yu and the Forum’s Beth Kerley, author Valentin Weber warned the policy community about the future-oriented threats of PRC-backed frontier technologies.
NED’s grantmaking and civic partners everywhere have been indispensable in supporting efforts not only to investigate and raise awareness around a worldwide threat to freedom, but also to break through the CCP’s stranglehold on information and help those it targets to make themselves heard. As Forum Director Kevin Sheives asserts in the Journal of Democracy, “In an era when public trust in government and other key institutions has declined, civil society can also speak locally and credibly. Civic organizations’ proximity to their constituents is a key component of their local legitimacy, which can make them effective at countering PRC narratives.”
NED will continue to stand up for free and open expression and push back against censorship from China and other authoritarian regimes around the world. Read more here about how our partners have been responding to the CCP’s threats to global freedom.
