The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”

Central Propaganda Department: The media may not independently analyze or comment on the lost Malaysia Airlines flight. Related coverage must strictly accord with authoritative information issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and with Xinhua News Agency wire copy. The domestic aviation department can promptly provide related information to passengers’ family members. All media must refrain from interviewing family members without permission, and must not incite any discontented sentiment. All media continue to give increased publicity to the Two Sessions. 中宣部：对马航失联客机事件，媒体不要擅自分析，评论此次事件。有关消息发布严格依据中国民航方面的权威信息和新华社通稿，可对我国民航部门为乘客家属及时提供相关信息、服务等方面的内容加以报道。各地媒体不要擅自采访家属，不可挑动任何不满情绪。各地各媒体要继续加大两会宣传力度。(March 8, 2014)

Of the 227 passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, at least 152 were Chinese nationals. Passengers’ relatives expressed anger after being moved from the arrivals gate to a Beijing hotel to anxiously await news from the carrier. BBC reported heightened security at Beijing Capital International Airport and Chinese state media criticism of the airline’s delayed release of information.

In his most recent cartoon for CDT, Badiucao offered moral support to the missing passengers of MH370.

CDT collects these directives from a variety of sources and checks them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date on CDT Chinese is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

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