The potent reaction from both Chinese netizens and mainstream media in response to Sunday’s deadly train crash in Wenzhou has shown how the state’s propaganda machine is being increasingly challenged. The majority of Chinese media (including state-owned organs) this week ignored directives issued by the Central Propaganda Ministry not to report on the causes of the crash. Meanwhile, netizens’ use of social media, both to chronicle the disaster and to express their fury at the government’s handling of the situation, has led outspoken paper Southern Metropolis Daily to claim “no one, not even someone with the lowest IQ, would choose to challenge the public at this particular point in time.”
NEWS
China: social media response to Wenzhou crash challenges censorship
The potent reaction from both Chinese netizens and mainstream media in response to Sunday’s deadly train crash in Wenzhou has shown how the state’s propaganda machine is being increasingly challenged. The majority of Chinese media (including state-owned organs) this week ignored directives issued by the Central Propaganda Ministry not to report on the causes of […]
By Marta Cooper
29 Jul 11
Support free expression for all
Prev
Next
At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.
But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.
If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.
At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.
But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.
If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.
At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.
But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.
If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.
At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.
But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.
If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.
At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.
But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.
If you believe in a future where voices aren’t silenced, help us protect it.
By Marta Cooper
READ MORE
-
The rise of the American dissident
A panel at Index's latest magazine launch discussed the Trump administration’s attacks on state-funded media, the legal establishment and academia
-
Israel’s systematic war on Palestinian journalists is a war on press freedom everywhere
Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues from Al Jazeera were killed in a targeted attack because they refused to be silenced
-
The week in free expression: 2 – 8 August 2025
Index rounds up of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days
-
From Hong Kong with hate
Someone is carrying out transnational repression of its exiled critics by post