POWERED BY AI, STRICT CENSORSHIP ON 36TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIANANMEN MASSACRE

June 4, the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, is among the most sensitive dates on the Chinese political calendar. Any attempts to draw attention to the event are routinely censored on the Chinese internet. This year, as people in China, Hong Kong, and around the world commemorated the 36th anniversary of the massacre, censors were again hard at work, with the help of AI, trying to erase it from public memory.

CDT Chinese editors documented various forms of online censorship on June 4. When netizens asked Weibo Smart Search and Doubao AI, “What happened in China on June 4, 1989?,” neither AI tool was able to provide any results. Doubao AI was also unable to generate an image of a candle when prompted. DeepSeek AI proved to be even more restrictive, telling users that it was “unable to answer that question” when asked what today’s date is. Elsewhere, a Douyin blogger was warned by a Douyin live-streaming specialist: “Don’t say the number 64 during today’s livestream, whether it’s for prices, measurements, or product codes. It’s extremely sensitive, so make sure to remind the livestreamer to be careful.” 

One Weibo user found themselves in violation of platform rules just for mentioning that “overseas users are not allowed to post images [on June 4].” Putting up a fight, users of the mobile learning platform Xuexitong “rushed the tower” en masse by posting various photos, memes, and phrases highlighting the sensitive date. (See our CDT Lexicon for more detail about “rush the tower” and other phrases.)

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