This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Chinese news groups have been ordered to purge all mention of the Panama Papers from their websites and warned of harsh punishment if they are found to have published material “attacking China”.

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the leaked trove of 11.5m files show that relatives of at least eight current or former members of China’s top ruling body, the politburo standing committee, possess offshore companies arranged though the law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Those reportedly named in the leaked database from the firm include Deng Jiagui, the brother-in-law of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and Li Xiaolin, the daughter of former premier Li Peng, a Communist party hardliner who became known as the “Butcher of Beijing” for his role in ordering the 1989 military crackdown on Tiananmen protesters.

But a leaked censorship directive from one provincial internet watchdog informed Chinese editors they were forbidden from covering the Panama Papers leak.

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“Find and delete reprinted reports on the Panama Papers. Do not follow up on related content, no exceptions. If material from foreign media attacking China is found on any website, it will be dealt with severely,” read the directive, which was obtained and published by China Digital Times, a website affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley.

“Please act immediately,” the censorship order reportedly added.

A second directive, published by the same group, demanded that an article published on Monday focusing on revelations about the hidden riches of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle be removed from the homepage of one website.

Chinese news groups – from which Xi recently demanded “absolute loyalty” – appeared to be closely following those orders on Tuesday.

The Shanghai Daily newspaper purged an online version of its front page story entitled: ‘Papers reveal “never-before-seen view inside the offshore world”.’ Users trying to access that story, which had made no mention of the alleged links to Chinese politicians, were greeted with the message: “It appears that the server is unable to locate the page you requested.”

A three-minute report on the international channel of state broadcaster CCTV was also purged from its YouTube channel. In that report, which also steered clear of the claims relating to China, CCTV correspondent Nathan King noted how allegations against Iceland’s prime minister had sparked street protests in Reykjavik. “People can get angry,” King said, in the deleted CCTV story.

China’s massive internet censorship apparatus also swung into action on Monday as documents from the Mossack Fonseca database began to emerge.

According to China Digital Times, the social media network Sina Weibo had blocked searches for terms including: “Panama + offshore”, “offshore + finance”, “Panama + Deng Jiagui”, “Panama + Li Xiaolin”.

Free Weibo, a website that monitors social media censorship in China, said “Panama” had become its most censored term.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry refused to comment on Tuesday on what he called “groundless accusations” linking Chinese leaders to the Panama Papers database. However, an editorial in the English-language edition of the state-run Global Times tabloid suggested the leak was part of a “disinformation” campaign masterminded by the US.

“Information that is negative to the US can always be minimised, while exposure of non-western leaders, such as Putin, can get extra spin,” the newspaper claimed.

The Global Times made no mention of any Chinese connection to the Panama Papers but did concede that the Mossack Fonseca documents might be genuine.

“It is risky to claim the leaked information is fabricated,” the Communist party-controlled newspaper said.