The US-China trade war, arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, and the world's first genetically edited baby were among the top 10 most censored topics on WeChat in 2018, newly published research has revealed.

Key points: WeChat has a keyword filter that censors sensitive information before it's published

WeChat has a keyword filter that censors sensitive information before it's published Censored topics reflect Chinese leader's priority to maintain social stability, experts say

Censored topics reflect Chinese leader's priority to maintain social stability, experts say There have also been reports of censorship in private conversation on the platform

WeChatscope, a research project at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre, investigated the scope of topics censored on China's most popular social media platform by tracking more than 4,000 public accounts covering daily news throughout last year.

By the end of 2018, the team found that about 11,000 of the 1.04 million articles reviewed as part of the project had been removed by China's censorship regime.

The list of the 10 most controversial topics also included the high-profile Fan Bingbing tax fraud scandal, which led to the actress's disappearance, as well as the Chinese rabies vaccine scandal in July last year where manufacturer Changsheng Biotechnology was found to have fabricated records.

WeChat, like the majority of Chinese social media platforms, has a keyword filter that automatically censors sensitive information before it's published. This means well-known politically sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre or the Xinjiang re-education camps never even make it through to publication.

The data collected by the researchers, however, is novel in that it involved topics and keywords on subjects that made it through to publication but were then pulled or censored.

The researchers said the findings showed the range of censored topics had "expanded from domestic policies and social unrest to less politically sensitive topics, in what seems to be an effort to support China's international political image as a 'great power'".

10 most sensitive topics of 2018 China-US trade war

China-US trade war US sanctions against ZTE

US sanctions against ZTE The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei in Canada

The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei in Canada The investigation of businessman Ye Jianming for economic crimes

The investigation of businessman Ye Jianming for economic crimes Hongmao medicinal liquor scandal

Hongmao medicinal liquor scandal #Metoo and sexual harassment allegations against a Peking University professor

#Metoo and sexual harassment allegations against a Peking University professor Passenger-driver conflict in Chongqing

Passenger-driver conflict in Chongqing World's first genetically-edited baby

World's first genetically-edited baby Changsheng vaccine scandal

Changsheng vaccine scandal Fan Bingbing tax fraud scandal Source: WeChatscope, University of Hong Kong

Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Centre in Netherlands and author of China's Digital Nationalism, told the ABC that anything that challenged the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mandate or ability to govern the country was seen as "dangerous".

"Any suggestions that something might be amiss in Chinese society is highly sensitive, because it raises the question: why are the leaders not creating the social progress they've promised?" Dr Schneider said.

"Then there is the fact that the party sees itself as the moral leadership of society, which means that it carefully monitors any potential 'unhealthy' content, which means values and norms that run counter to party doctrine."

'This content has been deleted by the publisher'

WeChat is a 'super app' with multiple facets. ( ABC News: Jarrod Fankhauser )

In addition to looking at the scope of topics censored, the university research team also analysed the range of official explanations given to authors and readers for the removal of a post.

The most common reason out of four typical ones identified was: "This content has been deleted by the publisher."

"Self-censorship is a common practice among internet users in China as online speech can easily bring them trouble," the report said.

"Posts that cite unofficial sources of information can easily be charged with spreading rumours if they are re-posted more than 500 times.

"Users will often remove their own posts if they receive warning from senior colleagues or employers."

The three other reasons were that the content violated related laws and regulations, the account was blocked, or that the content had been reported by multiple people.

Dr Schneider said many of the top censored topics of 2018 followed a long-established pattern of Chinese censorship, including hot-button issues that are pervasive in Chinese society such as health scandals and fraud cases.

"[These] remind citizens that society is by no means as 'stable' as the Chinese leadership claims," he said.

"You also see an example of how the CCP tries to curb topics that might inspire collective action, especially collective action that might challenge the status quo."

He said the #MeToo movement — including the sexual harassment allegations against a Peking University professor — fell into this category.

Meanwhile, topics such as the US-China trade war and US sanctions against Chinese company ZTE may suggest that the country's economy might be in trouble.

Last year, US President Donald Trump imposed import tariffs on $US200 billion worth of Chinese imports and threatened more, prompting a retaliation from China with tariffs of its own on the US.

"Since the CCP has tied much of its legitimacy to the promise of increased prosperity and welfare, such an economic downturn might raise questions about the party's ability to deliver on its promise", Dr Schneider said.

'Chinese Government scrambles to counter the narrative'

The picture of Xi Jinping's portrait in a church was blocked by WeChat instantly while the journalist was waiting to receive it. ( ABC News: Bang Xiao )

As controversial topics are censored, Titus Chen, associate professor at the National Sun Yat-Sen University's Institute of Political Science, told the ABC the Chinese Government simultaneously carried out "cyber propaganda operations" to counter the narrative.

"[As posts are pulled] the Chinese Government scrambles to flood the internet with official, sanitised versions of stories touching on the same topics in order to shape and lead online public opinion," he said.

"Authors and distributors of online critical or anti-regime information may, as a number of cases have shown, be subject to not only online censorship but offline criminal repressions.

"In particular, censorship, when employed along with cyber propaganda operations, can create a national echo chamber in which only pro-Beijing contents can be found."

While the research focused on public accounts, there have also been reports of censorship in private conversations on the platform, which is said to have more than 1 billion active users.

Last year, an ABC journalist struggled to receive a picture of the Chinese President from an interviewee because the Chinese app repeatedly blocked it.

While Tencent, the founder of WeChat, is a private company, it is required to follow domestic laws.

Dr Schneider said the Chinese state had cleverly outsourced much of its censorship activities to private actors, who self-censor based on murky rules and regulations, and always worried that a transgression might cost them their media licence.

"Large corporations like Tencent, Sina, or Baidu are bound to have close contacts to CCP cadres, if their managers are not party members themselves, and this assures that they have a general sense of the topical areas the party finds sensitive at any given moment," he said.

"However, the fact that the guidelines are fairly unclear creates strong pressures to over-censor.

"Private companies are often more conservative in their judgement because they feel the need to play it safe in order to continue operating a lucrative business in China."

The ABC has approached Tencent for comment but they did not respond at the time of publication.

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