A collection of newly leaked documents and investigative reports has revealed China’s expansive plan to rewrite the global protest narrative—online, offline, and everywhere in between. The blueprint, dissected in a damning ARTICLE 19 report, lays out how Xi Jinping’s government is exporting censorship infrastructure and lobbying international bodies to redefine “lawful protest” in authoritarian terms.
The project includes advanced AI-driven monitoring systems, social media infiltration units, and coordinated disinformation campaigns across Europe, Africa, and Asia. At home, China is simultaneously rolling out its seasonal “Censorship Season,” described in ABC Radio, where citizens are arrested preemptively for posts not yet made.
Meanwhile, Xi’s delegates were just appointed to a key UN human rights oversight role, drawing outrage from watchdogs who called the move “the fox guarding the henhouse.” The contradiction is staggering: a regime systematically undermining free expression now helping regulate it internationally.
Analysts say the strategy is clear—normalize repression by embedding it in the language of diplomacy. China isn’t just censoring at home; it’s lobbying the world to call censorship “stability.” From firewalls to firehoses of propaganda, Xi’s message is exported, amplified, and enforced with tech-savvy ruthlessness.