COVID-19 Increased Censorship Circumvention and Access to Sensitive Topics in China

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 4 (January 25, 2022): e2102818119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2

21st Century China Center Research Paper No. 2022-4

10 Pages Posted: 29 Dec 2020 Last revised: 6 Feb 2022

See all articles by Keng-Chi Chang

Keng-Chi Chang

University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

William R. Hobbs

Cornell University

Margaret E. Roberts

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - 21st Century China Center

Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Date Written: January 25, 2022

Abstract

Crisis motivates people to track news closely, and this increased engagement can expose individuals to politically sensitive information unrelated to the initial crisis. We use the case of the COVID-19 outbreak in China to examine how crisis affects information seeking in countries that normally exert significant control over access to media. The crisis spurred censorship circumvention and access to international news and political content on websites blocked in China. Once individuals circumvented censorship, they not only received more information about the crisis itself but also accessed unrelated information that the regime has long censored. Using comparisons to democratic and other authoritarian countries also affected by early outbreaks, the findings suggest that people blocked from accessing information most of the time might disproportionately and collectively access that long-hidden information during a crisis. Evaluations resulting from this access, negative or positive for a government, might draw on both current events and censored history.

Keywords: China, Media, Censorship, Coronavirus

Suggested Citation

Chang, Keng-Chi and Hobbs, William R. and Roberts, Margaret E. and Steinert-Threlkeld, Zachary, COVID-19 Increased Censorship Circumvention and Access to Sensitive Topics in China (January 25, 2022). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 4 (January 25, 2022): e2102818119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2, 21st Century China Center Research Paper No. 2022-4, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3756577 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3756577

Keng-Chi Chang

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
Mail Code 0502
La Jolla, CA 92093-0112
United States

William R. Hobbs

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Margaret E. Roberts

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - 21st Century China Center ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive #0519
La Jolla, CA 92093-0519
United States

Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) ( email )

405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States

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