The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. Don’t report or comment on the matter of the Red Yellow Blue New World Kindergarten in Beijing’s Chaoyang district. (November
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source.
Chinese authorities announced a nationwide investigation into conditions at childcare facilities on Friday following public outcry at claims that children at a Beijing kindergarten were intimidated, drugged with pills and needles, forced to strip naked, or sexually abused. Rumors of military involvement—the school is adjacent to a base, and its director is married to a former military official—have further agitated the public. Shares in the kindergarten’s NASDAQ-listed operator, RYB, have dropped almost 40%. The news follows earlier cases of abuse in RYB kindergartens in Jilin and Beijing, as well as a more recent scandal at a Shanghai daycare run by the travel company Ctrip. Public outrage was already high over the Ctrip case, which was the subject of no fewer than four leaked directives obtained and published by CDT.
The Guardian’s Tom Philips described initial coverage of the RYB case, as well as its sudden suppression:
“For two days my daughter has been crying: ‘I’m not sick, so why give me shots?’” one mother told China Women’s News, a party-run newspaper. Another parent claimed children had been told to take two white tablets each day after lunch, for reasons that are unclear. “Disobedient students were also forced to stand naked or were locked up in a dark room at the kindergarten,” a third parent told the magazine Caixin. “I am trembling with anger now,” a fourth parent was quoted as saying by the Beijing News on Thursday as relatives gathered outside the nursery to demand access to CCTV footage that might confirm the abuse. […] Strikingly, after two days of high-profile coverage in China’s party-controlled press there was virtually no mention of the scandal in Beijing’s main newspapers on Friday morning. That suggested propaganda officials – nervous about the potential for a political backlash from China’s middle-classes – had ordered newsrooms to dial back their reporting. [Source]
Foreign Policy’s James Palmer, formerly an editor at the state-owned Global Times, and NPR’s Rob Schmitz discussed the drop in coverage on Twitter:
What’s On Weibo’s Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes described how parents’ accusations, including allegations of rape by a supposed doctor, gained momentum before information controls kicked in:
Several videos recorded by the parents involved made their ways to parental support groups.
