Ukraine: How China is censoring online discussion of the war

Key Facts

By Kai Wang BBC Reality Check Image source, Getty Images China has sought to keep a diplomatic distance from the war in Ukraine, choosing to abstain in a UN vote condemning Russia's invasion.
A "thank you" note posted by the official Weibo account of Russia's state-controlled news network RT, expressing gratitude to the Chinese for their support, was taken down, as was this Weibo post: "I'm glad that Russia has taken the initiative to undertake the difficult task of fighting the neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
It was said to have been issued to media by the central regulator the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) this month, calling on "commercial websites, local and self-published media'' not to "conduct livestreams or use hashtags" about the Ukraine conflict.
It also announced it would add geo-location labels to posts to help with verification The video-streaming site Bilibili said last month it had deleted 1,642 "inappropriate messages" and suspended about 57 accounts WeChat and Bilibili have both urged users to be "objective" and "rational" when discussing Ukraine Official and mainstream media carry regular reports on the situation in Ukraine but have stopped short of calling Russia's actions a "war" or "invasion".