Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest academic publishers, was the latest company to acknowledge acquiescing to Chinese demands to limit free speech.
BEIJING — One of the world’s largest academic publishers was criticized on Wednesday for bowing to pressure from the Chinese government to block access to hundreds of articles on its Chinese website.
Springer Nature, whose publications include Nature and Scientific American, acknowledged that at the government’s request, it had removed articles from its mainland site that touch on topics the ruling Communist Party considers sensitive, including Taiwan, Tibet, human rights and elite politics.
The publisher defended its decision, saying that only 1 percent of its content was inaccessible in mainland China.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has grown increasingly confident in using its vast market as a bargaining chip, forcing foreign firms to acquiesce to strict demands on free speech.
Academic publishers have become a popular target, part of Mr. Xi’s efforts to restrict the flow of ideas at universities.
In August, Cambridge University Press, one of the oldest publishing houses, said it had removed more than 300 articles from the Chinese site of the journal China Quarterly. The articles mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the Cultural Revolution and other topics deemed inappropriate by the authorities. The publisher later reversed course after an outcry.
Several scholars on Wednesday denounced Springer Nature’s censorship in the mainland, which was first reported by The Financial Times. They accused the company of prioritizing profit over free speech.
