CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Three
Deleted content on DeepSeek censorship, a charity "draining the lifeblood of the poor to transfuse the rich," Lao A's "schizophrenic misogyny," and an alarming legal decision that threatens to "redraw the boundary of rape."
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Three
Deleted content on DeepSeek censorship, a charity "draining the lifeblood of the poor to transfuse the rich," Lao A's "schizophrenic misogyny," and an alarming legal decision that threatens to "redraw the boundary of rape."
Quick, cover up Yang Guifei!
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Two
Deleted content on the courts, unpaid wages, falling birthrates, free pre-natal checkups for retirees in Beijing, clothes for nude statues, and Weibo's muting of two entrepreneurs after a public spat.
In this 2019 photograph, a gray haze hangs over a rural northern Chinese landscape of rectangular green fields, punctuated here and there by a few bare trees. A line of trees in the distance blur into the haze, making them resemble a slightly darker fog-bank.
Photo: Somewhere, China, by Lei Han
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/phot...
"Robots are becoming more agile, while workers are becoming more oppressed by algorithms. Technology gallops forward, while ordinary people get left behind." - From an essay by legal blogger Li Yuchen, contrasting the care lavished on the humanoid robots featured in CCTV's New Year's Gala with the plight of migrant- and gig-workers treated as expendable "huminerals."
CDT Quote of the Week:
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/tran...
CDT’s “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part Two
Deleted content on the courts, unpaid wages, falling birthrates, free pre-natal checkups for retirees in Beijing, clothes for nude statues, and Weibo's muting of two entrepreneurs after a public spat.
In this 2019 photograph, a gray haze hangs over a rural northern Chinese landscape of rectangular green fields, punctuated here and there by a few bare trees. A line of trees in the distance blur into the haze, making them resemble a slightly darker fog-bank.
Photo: Somewhere, China, by Lei Han
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/phot...
"Robots are becoming more agile, while workers are becoming more oppressed by algorithms. Technology gallops forward, while ordinary people get left behind." - From an essay by legal blogger Li Yuchen, contrasting the care lavished on the humanoid robots featured in CCTV's New Year's Gala with the plight of migrant- and gig-workers treated as expendable "huminerals."
CDT Quote of the Week:
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/tran...
Translation: Why Was My Positive Energy Post on Heating Costs in Hebei Censored?
"I was especially cautious: considering what I could and couldn’t write, praising national policies and promoting positive energy—how could they think it broke the rules?"
Translation: After China's Spring Festival Gala, "The Humans Are Worse Off Than The Robots"
"In the end, are robots becoming more human, or are humans becoming more like draft animals? Or to put it another way: Who’s treated with care in this country, and who’s an expendable resource?"
Translation: Why Was My Positive Energy Post on Heating Costs in Hebei Censored?
"I was especially cautious: considering what I could and couldn’t write, praising national policies and promoting positive energy—how could they think it broke the rules?"
Translation: After China's Spring Festival Gala, "The Humans Are Worse Off Than The Robots"
"In the end, are robots becoming more human, or are humans becoming more like draft animals? Or to put it another way: Who’s treated with care in this country, and who’s an expendable resource?"
CDT's “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part One
Deleted content on Maduro and Venezuela, iOS jailbreaking, investigative reporting, quitting smoking, and this winter's heating crisis in Hebei
Translation: Are the Spring-Festival Gala Haters Gluttons for Punishment?
"When CCTV reminded viewers that the show was under copyright, one Douyin user likened this to putting a lock on a septic tank."
A small shop in Shenzhen is adorned with all manner of festive Chinese New Year decorations crafted in red and gold paper. There are lanterns, hangings, and and intricate paper-cuts, many depicting Chinese characters, deities, or even cartoon characters. A woman wearing eyeglasses and a banana clip in her hair is behind the counter, but only the back of her head is visible.
Photo: It's the year of HORSE., by QuantFoto
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/phot...
CDT's “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for January 2026, Part One
Deleted content on Maduro and Venezuela, iOS jailbreaking, investigative reporting, quitting smoking, and this winter's heating crisis in Hebei
A small shop in Shenzhen is adorned with all manner of festive Chinese New Year decorations crafted in red and gold paper. There are lanterns, hangings, and and intricate paper-cuts, many depicting Chinese characters, deities, or even cartoon characters. A woman wearing eyeglasses and a banana clip in her hair is behind the counter, but only the back of her head is visible.
Photo: It's the year of HORSE., by QuantFoto
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/phot...
Translation: Are the Spring-Festival Gala Haters Gluttons for Punishment?
"When CCTV reminded viewers that the show was under copyright, one Douyin user likened this to putting a lock on a septic tank."
Translations: "A Forest Needs Woodpeckers, Not Just Magpies" - Tributes to Pair of Detained Reporters, Now Released on Bail
"I remember calling him several times to bug him about a piece. I was getting a bit annoyed. An hour later, he called: 'I'm hiding in a cave, I'll write it as soon as I can.'"
Translations: "A Forest Needs Woodpeckers, Not Just Magpies" - Tributes to Pair of Detained Reporters, Now Released on Bail
"I remember calling him several times to bug him about a piece. I was getting a bit annoyed. An hour later, he called: 'I'm hiding in a cave, I'll write it as soon as I can.'"
"In any given dynasty," Mu Bai reminds these wannabe political cos-players, "your ancestors would have been too lowly to even haul around the Emperor’s shit-bucket on a shoulder-pole.”
"Blogger Mu Bai mocks the recent wave of 'dynastic nostalgia' among some online Chinese nationalists who identify with the emperors and generals of yore, and engage in heated arguments about whether the Ming or the Qing Dynasty was more badass."
CDT's “404 Deleted Content Archive” Summary for December 2025, Part Two
Topics include: Ming Dynasty nostalgia, WeChat friend-circle estrangement, cancelled flights to Japan, and Nanjing Museum staff pilfering and reselling donated artworks.
"Lift the lid, and they’ll investigate you. They don’t care what’s under it." - Legal blogger Li Yuchen, commenting on the detentions of two investigative journalists, Liu Hu and Wu Yingjiao, in retaliation for their reporting on a corruption case in Chengdu, Sichuan province.
CDT Quote of the Week:
chinadigitaltimes.net/2026/02/tran...
"In any given dynasty," Mu Bai reminds these wannabe political cos-players, "your ancestors would have been too lowly to even haul around the Emperor’s shit-bucket on a shoulder-pole.”
"Blogger Mu Bai mocks the recent wave of 'dynastic nostalgia' among some online Chinese nationalists who identify with the emperors and generals of yore, and engage in heated arguments about whether the Ming or the Qing Dynasty was more badass."
