An Inside Look at How China’s Cyberspace Surveillance Controls Pandemic Narrative

'Pandemic control' includes control of information: internal documents

Security staff stand guard at the entrance of a residental area following Covid-19 cases in Zhangye in China's northwestern Gansu Province, on Oct. 23, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The Epoch Times has received internal documents that reveal how China’s propaganda machine controls its pandemic narrative on a local level.

The documents were released by a county propaganda daily operations department.

Three issues—No. 106, 107, and 108—of an internal bulletin, dated Nov. 29, 30, and Dec. 1, 2022, respectively, recorded the daily outcome of efforts to censor social media and release a positive image of COVID-19 policy in Guanghe County, in China’s northwestern Gansu province.

‘Red Header’ Documents

Labeled as “confidential,” the “red header” documents—official documents with the name of the issuing agency printed in red at the top—were entitled “Dynamics of Publicity Work of Epidemic Prevention and Control.” They were prepared by the county “response group” responsible for publicity and public opinion in regard to epidemic prevention and control.

The “response group” is typically led by the local propaganda department and local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary, based on a report by state-run media Xinhua News.

According to the three issues obtained by The Epoch Times, the work of the response group was routinely divided into three categories: “handling of public opinion,” “trends of public opinion,” and “progress and analysis of public opinion.”

Under “handling of public opinion,” the bulletins indicate that Chinese social media such as Weibo and Kuaishou were routinely monitored for “sensitive information.” Methods of “handling” such information included deleting the information, suggesting that it be deleted, and reporting it to the authorities for investigation.

Issue No. 108 concluded that between Sept. 12 and Dec. 1, 2022, the response group had identified a total of 5,161 pieces of information related to the epidemic, deleted 2,927 pieces of sensitive information on social media platforms Kuaishou, Douyin, and Weibo, and shut down 304 live broadcasts.

Under “trends of public opinion,” Issue No. 106 summarized the trends of netizens’ posts: those “reflecting daily life” were increasing, and “videos and pictures related to the pandemic were drastically decreasing.”

Issue No. 108 noted, “Netizens complained about medical supplies and improper disposal of medical waste.”

Coordinated Censorship Through ‘The Grid’

Regarding “progress and analysis of public opinion,” the response group stressed its campaign of “positive online propaganda—creating an atmosphere of populous fighting against the pandemic,” through the concerted effort of community “grid members” to flood the web with official posts.

An undated photo obtained by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times reveals live footage monitored by a local grid member in Shandong, China's eastern coastal province. (Courtesy of Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times)

The Chinese online surveillance and monitoring system, along with its ubiquitous cameras, has evolved into what is known as “the grid,”  with “grid members” in charge of all neighbors within a particular grid.

In urban areas, there are around 300 households in a grid, and in the suburbs, there are around 100 households in a grid.

According to Chinese state-run newspaper People’s Daily, in order to facilitate pandemic prevention and control, the grid system was strengthened into a “better mesh” in 2020, with a massive push to hire additional “grid members” and incorporate them into the local online surveillance system.

At a grassroots level, grid members are local surveillance staff, assisting the efforts of Chengguan—the urban management force mainly targeting illegal street vendors—and police.

The documents also discuss the coordination of propaganda, cyberspace efforts, and public security among departments to “ensure timely and synchronized online and offline response.” Put simply, this means the censorship and reporting of online information by grid members, and, offline, the capture of individuals guilty of propagating “sensitive information” by police.

The Epoch Times spoke with Chinese affairs expert Wang He regarding the CCP’s surveillance machine. Regarding synchronized online and offline efforts to target sensitive posts, Wang commented, “the CCP can’t tolerate criticism.” In China, the solution to a problem is not to fix the problem, but to get rid of the person who reported the problem, he said.

“That’s how the CCP achieves the ‘harmony’ of a Communist society,” Wang said.

Song Tang and Yi Ru contributed to this report.