State-run daily tabloid Global Times has removed references to China in a report about declining internet freedoms. The country came last in the Freedom House survey, according to the report by news wire Agence France-Presse, which was carried in full on HKFP.

Photo: Freedom House.

The original copy stated: “At the bottom of the list was China, worse than runners-up Syria and Iran in terms of a lack of online freedom. Cuba and Ethiopia rounded out the bottom five.”

Global online freedom declined for a fifth consecutive year as governments stepped up electronic surveillance and clamped down on dissidents using blogs or social media.

On the Global Times website, the news wire piece was sub-headed “Survey finds marked declines in Libya, Ukraine, France.”

Global Times has reached one million Facebook fans, and to celebrate we’re giving away an iPad mini 2 and two Amazon… Posted by Global Times on Wednesday, 28 October 2015

The Global Times Facebook page, which remains inaccessible in the mainland due to strict censorship, celebrated a million fans today.