A recent study has revealed that popular translation services and software in mainland China automatically censor sensitive information as determined by the Chinese communist regime. The study, titled “Lost in Translation: Characterizing Automated Censorship in Online Translation Services,” was conducted by Canada-based Citizen Lab and examined five major Chinese online translation services. These services, operated by four Chinese companies (Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and Youdao) and one American company (Microsoft’s Bing Translator), were found to automatically censor words, phrases, or sentences related to content deemed sensitive in China.
The researchers discovered a total of 11,634 censorship rules targeting sensitive content after testing the translation services provided by these companies. Interestingly, the censorship primarily focuses on political and religious expression that contradicts the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Surprisingly though, there was a lack of censorship related to pornography or eroticism. This suggests that either the censors did not anticipate their rules being studied or they are no longer concerned about concealing their true political agenda.
According to the report from Citizen Lab, these translation review rules are specifically targeted and automatically applied. As a result, certain content that users want to translate may be partially or completely omitted without any notification.
Amongst the tested services, Alibaba exhibited the strictest censorship policies followed by Youdao and Tencent. Baidu and Bing had relatively fewer censorship rules compared to others.
The study also found that almost all censorship rules apply when translating between simplified Chinese characters, traditional Chinese characters, English language text or a combination thereof. However,the majority of censorship occurs when translating from foreign languages into Chinese rather than vice versa.
Chen Shih-min from National Taiwan University explained that CCP’s online translation service censorship is primarily aimed at preventing Chinese citizens from learning about actual situations within China through foreign information sources.
The report further identified specific instances where religious content related to Falun Gong was heavily censored across various platforms including Microsoft’s Bing Translator. References to Falun Gong-associated news outlets such as The Epoch Times were also subject to heavy filtering.
Wu Se-chih from Cross-Strait Policy Association suggested that this heavy religious censorship indicates CCP’s lack of confidence in its own rule as it fears losing absolute control if people have freedom of religious belief.
Despite this extensive online censorship within communist China,Wu expressed confidence that ordinary citizens can find ways or software tools outside CCP’s firewall which would allow them access to foreign translation software/services enabling them access more truthful information.
