CDT presents a monthly series of censored content that has been added to our “404 Deleted Content Archive.” Each month, we publish a summary of content blocked or deleted (often yielding the message “404: content not found”) from Chinese platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin (TikTok’s counterpart in the Chinese market), Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Bilibili, Zhihu, Douban, and others. Although this content archived by CDT Chinese editors represents only a small fraction of the online content that disappears each day from the Chinese internet, it provides valuable insight into which topics are considered “sensitive” over time by the Party-state, cyberspace authorities, and platform censors. Our fully searchable Chinese-language “404 Deleted Content Archive,” currently contains 2,397 deleted articles, essays, and other pieces of content. The entry for each deleted item includes the author/social media account name, the original publishing platform, the subject matter, the date of deletion, and more information.

Below is Part One of CDT’s summary of deleted content from January 2026. Between January 1-31, CDT Chinese added 55 new articles, mostly from WeChat, to the archive. Topics targeted for deletion in January included:

• Maduro and Venezuela: Chinese reactions to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces; Chinese and international media coverage of Venezuela; and what recent events may mean for Sino-Venezuelan relations.

• Hebei’s rural heating crisis: Many elderly and rural residents in Hebei, braving subzero temperatures, were unable afford to pay for heating this winter due to a combination of soaring energy prices, plummeting natural-gas subsidies, and strict bans on the burning of “loose coal” following that region’s “coal-to-gas” conversion that launched in 2017. (This was one of the most censored online topics in January: 16 of CDT’s 55 archived articles last month concerned Hebei’s energy woes.)

• Sharp birthrate decline: China’s annual birthrate fell below eight million in 2025, a record low, fueling online discussion about demographics, pro-natalist government policies, and the “period police.”

• Jia Guolong and Luo Yonghao spat: An acrimonious public dispute between influencer Luo Yonghao and Xibei restaurant chain founder Jia Guolong culminated in both of their Weibo accounts being suspended.

• Gender double standards and misogyny: There were several posts on sexism and double standards in society, and public outcry over a controversial decision not to prosecute a rape case in Heshun county, Shanxi province, because the man involved was “motivated by the desire to start a family” with a mentally ill woman.

• Online influencer “Lao A”: After rising to fame for coining the phrase “kill line” to describe poverty and homelessness in the U.S., Lao A continued to generate controversy over his misogynistic statements about Chinese women who live or study abroad.

• Complaints about naked art: Reports of complaints about a nude statue of Yang Guifei emerging from her bath resulted in a flood of memes and outrageous fashion suggestions about how to clothe her nudity.

• The future of Iran: A blogger pondered the possibility of regime change in Iran as diplomatic pressure mounts.

• Generational differences: An article asked which generation had it worse—the “Post-80s,” “Post-90s,” or “Post-00s”?

(Note that the dates in the summary below refer to when an article was published on the CDT website, not when it was deleted from Chinese social-media platforms.)

1. “Pangu Labs Announces iOS 26.1 Jailbreak,” WeChat account 盘古石取证(Pángǔ shí qǔzhèng, Pangu Labs)
   January 1

The team at Pangu Labs, known for their past iOS jailbreaks, announced a jailbreak of iOS 26.1 to allow data extraction from applications such as Telegram. The CDT Chinese editors’ note in this archived post mentions the topic attracted attention on overseas social media sites and sparked heated online discussion.

2. “We Strive to Report Stories That Go Beyond the ‘White Text on a Blue Background’ of Official Statements,” by Yang Bao, WeChat account Aquarius Era
   January 1

This longform year-end piece from freelance journalism collective Aquarius Era features over a dozen investigative journalists discussing the stories they reported on last year. Topics include a look back at the early days of the COVID pandemic in Wuhan; Nepal’s “Gen-Z” protests; the arrests of authors of online danmei (or BL) fiction; several cases of environmental pollution; several ongoing labor disputes and protests by workers demanding back wages; and the cancellations of Japanese concerts in China amid rising Sino-Japanese diplomatic tensions. Several commentators have previously lamented PRC news outlets’ growing reliance on politically safe "blue background" statements over independent newsgathering.

3. “Smokers Are the ‘First to Wake’ in 2026: Why Are So Many People Quitting Smoking This Year?” By Xu Peng, WeChat account History Rhymes
   January 2

Current-affairs blogger Xu Peng comments on the uptick in Chinese social-media posts by people vowing to quit smoking in 2026. He posits a number of reasons for this, including a greater awareness of the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke, a planned rise in cigarette taxes, and the desire to save money or spend it on family members instead of enriching state-owned tobacco companies. Xu Peng also strongly encourages his readers to give up the habit if they have it, and to share his post widely to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking.

4. “My Interview With a Venezuelan Friend After the U.S. Capture of Maduro,” by 边城蝴蝶梦 (Biānchéng húdié mèng, “Bordertown butterfly dream”), WeChat Account Port Youth
   January 5

The author, a Chinese blogger living in Canada, interviews a Canada-based Venezuelan friend “Arg” about his thoughts on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces on January 3, and what it might bode for Venezuela’s future. Arg describes how he, his wife, and two sons fled—first to Mexico and eventually to Canada—in order to escape poverty, crime, and political strife in their native Venezuela. Arg confides that while he and his Venezuelan friends celebrated the news of Maduro’s downfall, he remains uncertain about Venezuela’s future, worried about the potential for political instability, and saddened that he and his family “can never go back.” (In the CDT Chinese roundup of “sensitive words” from January, our editors detected many related censored word combinations across Chinese social media platforms, including: “release + Maduro,” “Maduro + beheading,” “Maduro + US military,” “Trump + Venezuela,” “release + political prisoners,” “Maduro + Emperor Xi,” and “Maduro + downfall.”)

5. “Who Is Venezuela’s Real Enemy?” by 捉刀漫谈max (Zhuōdāo màntán max, “Ghostwriter ramblings max”), WeChat account 捉刀时间max (Zhuōdāo shíjiān max, “Ghostwriting time max”)
   January 5

This article from a politically themed WeChat account argues that Venezuela’s true enemies are not external forces such as the U.S. or the West, but internal forces of despotism, ignorance, and servility that allowed leaders Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro to dismantle Venezuela’s democratic institutions, nationalize the oil industry, and create a corrupt system of patronage that dragged the nation, once one of Latin America’s wealthiest, into poverty. The author cites a range of thinkers to bolster his arguments—quoting from St. Augustine, Georges Clemenceau, Victor Hugo, and economists Sebastian Edwards and Joseph Stiglitz—and revisits the fierce May Fourth-era debate between Hu Shi and Liang Shuming about Chinese vs. Western culture and what path China ought to take. Venezuela’s people will only achieve true freedom, the author concludes, when they stop behaving as “subjects,” at which point the authoritarian political system will crumble under its own weight.

6. “Why ‘Poison Milk’ Li Li and Other ‘Experts’ Misjudged Maduro: Because Their Audience Laps It Up,” by Mu Bai, WeChat account Mu Bai’s Writing Is Mediocre
   January 5

Blogger Mu Bai castigates PLA commentator Li Li and other experts from prestigious Chinese institutions who consistently make incorrect predictions about international events, for example by overestimating the resilience of strongmen such Venezuela’s Maduro or Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled from power in 2024. (Li Li’s track record of making false prophecies—毒奶, dú nǎi, literally “poisoned milk”—has inspired online satire: “Whoever she supports is doomed,” and “Her predictions are spot-on, as long as you reverse them.”)

Mu Bai writes that he suspects that many of these commentators are just telling audiences what they want to hear. He tests his theory by asking a sixth-grader why the experts so often turn out to be wrong, and the child answers, “That’s how these people make money. They probably don’t even believe what they’re saying, but it wins them more supporters and makes their audience feel comfortable.” Mu Bai goes on to quote some of the negative online comments he has received from critics who accuse him of bias or exposing the “dark underbelly” of China in his writing. He encourages such readers to unfollow him, since he feels they prefer to be “fed comforting narratives” (喝奶, hē nǎi, literally "drink milk") that validate their existing worldview.

7. “In Rural Hebei, Older Residents Are Reluctant to Turn On the Heat, But They’re Not Just Being Stingy,” by Xiao Nuo, WeChat account News Brother
   January 5

In this—the first of 16 deleted articles archived by CDT in January about the Hebei heating crisis—current-affairs commentator and Hebei native Xiao Nuo writes about the exorbitant winter-heating costs that are forcing many older, lower-income residents in rural Hebei to ration their natural gas use and bundle up in quilts and padded clothes. This winter, nearly ten years after the province’s coal-to-natural-gas conversion policy began, initially generous subsidies have been phased out or allowed to lapse, and high demand has caused natural-gas prices to skyrocket. Citing a 2025 analysis by NPC delegate Yang Huisu, Xiao Nuo calculates that the cost of heating a typical rural home in Hebei could range between one-third and one-half of the median annual per-capita income there. The author also compares per-cubic-meter natural gas costs for rural Hebei and nearby Tianjin, and finds that prices in Tianjin are one yuan cheaper per cubic meter, despite Tianjin’s much higher per-capita disposable income. With the use of cheaper coal-stoves banned and enforced by drone-monitoring and expensive fines, and indebted local governments unwilling or unable to offer heating subsidies, many of Hebei’s rural residents have found themselves between a rock and a cold place this winter.

8. “The Hebei Countryside Shouldn’t Be This Cold!” by 镜二哥 (Jìng Èrgē, “Brother Lens”), WeChat account 八倍镜世界 Bā bèi jìng shìjiè, “8X Zoom Lens World”)
   January 6

This short piece about the winter heating crisis in Hebei begins with a mention of a frankly worded Farmers’ Daily article that was reportedly censored on January 5, but preserved by social-media users in the form of screenshots: “Hebei’s Rural Heating Crisis Can’t Be Put Off Any Longer.” The author agrees with the “people first” message of the Farmers’ Daily article: that while reducing coal use and environmental pollution are essential, it is unacceptable that millions of farmers in Hebei are left shivering in freezing temperatures because they cannot afford to pay their natural-gas bills this winter. The implication is that the government should intervene to help Hebei’s rural residents, although it is left unstated.

9. “On-the-Ground Report: Hebei’s Farmers Can’t Afford Heating This Winter," by Lü Yinling, Phoenix News “Eye of the Storm”
   January 7

Even major Chinese news outlets were targeted in the relentless drive to censor online content about the Hebei heating crisis. One example is this now-deleted investigative report featuring interviews with elderly and low-income residents of several villages near Baoding, Hebei province. Many households, having made the conversion from coal to natural-gas heating in previous years when government clean-energy subsidies were more generous, now find themselves unable to afford the cost of heating their homes with natural gas throughout the winter—an amount that, for some farmers, would wipe out their entire annual disposable income. The article describes some households receiving temporary hardship exemptions to revert to using “clean coal” briquette stoves; elderly residents gathering outdoors to burn corn cobs and tree roots for warmth; and some households limiting heater use to a few hours per day, despite freezing temperatures.

10. “This Winter for Hebei Farmers,” by Zhang Ling and Liu Xiaonuo, WeChat account Economic Observer
    January 7

Yet another censored report from a major outlet, this in-depth investigation from financial and business news platform Economic Observer includes interviews with residents grappling with high gas bills after the sharp reduction of government subsidies; local cadres tasked with enforcing the “coal-to-gas” conversion; and experts who recommend investment in improving insulation in rural homes, as well as a longer-term plan to diversify from natural gas to a combination of energy-efficient heat pumps, biomass, and solar power, depending on local conditions.

11. “Five Cost-Free Solutions for Hebei’s Winter Heating Crisis,” by Xiang Dongliang, WeChat account Constructive Opinions
    January 7

Mocking the disconnect between official propaganda and reality, this satirical article proposes five “cost-free” ways for Hebei residents to stay warm this winter: (1) watching Hebei TV news reports claiming that heating preparations are complete and that all residents will be warm and toasty this winter; (2) basking in the warmth of handwritten “positive energy” thank-you letters to hardworking local officials; (3) attending warm, indoor, dumpling-making events such as one recently publicized by the Hebei Daily Press Group, showing lightly dressed cadres clearly enjoying adequate heating; (4) joining “heartwarming” projects such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development initiative; and (5) participating in the Hebei Communist Youth League’s "Sending Warmth" campaign.

12. “They’ll Shell Out for Drones to Monitor Coal-Burning Scofflaws, But Not for Heating Subsidies,” by Xiong Taihang, WeChat account Just Call Me Xiong Taihang
    January 8

A short article criticizing the authorities in Hebei for being willing to purchase drones to monitor the illegal burning of coal, but not to fund subsidies for low-income residents who can no longer afford to heat their homes in winter. The article includes a screenshotted advertisement from a drone manufacturer suggesting that aerial reconnaissance be conducted between 5:00-7:00 a.m., because it is the coldest time of day, and thus the best time to catch residents illegally burning coal. Xiong compares this cruel enforcement with a story his father told him about the Great Famine in Anhui in 1960. After the local commune canteen ran out of grain, several families in the village pooled some grain they had secreted away and cooked a pot of porridge. Seeing the smoke from their cooking fire, the commune dispatched members of the militia, who extinguished the fire and dumped the porridge into the ashes. As soon as the militia left, Xiong’s father and the other village children wolfed down the now-ashen porridge as the adults wept.

13. “Why Don’t Lao A and His Ilk Care About the Heating Crisis Afflicting Hebei Farmers?” by Ni Ren, WeChat account Ni Ren on Economics
    January 8

Blogger Ni Ren (best known for his economics-focused WeChat account Black Noise) criticizes the hypocrisy of online Chinese nationalist influencers such as “Lao A” who are fixated on U.S. poverty and the so-called “kill line,” yet turn a blind eye to poverty and suffering in their own midst. While it is laudable to care about the lives of all human beings near or far, Ni Ren writes, it makes sense to pay close attention to one’s immediate surroundings, community, and country, as those have the greatest direct impact on our lives.

14. "Hebei’s Clean Energy Transition: Sold as an Infrastructure Project, but Paid for by Farmers," by Observer No. 1376, WeChat account Under the Black Box
    January 8

The author makes the compelling argument that Hebei’s rural "coal-to-gas" conversion was implemented primarily to improve regional air quality for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, rather than for the benefit of rural residents, and that while the government did finance the initial installation of pipes and equipment and offer subsidies for a number of years, now that those subsidies have been curtailed, it is impoverished farmers who are footing the bill. Natural gas prices have skyrocketed in the countryside, while urban residents continue to enjoy lower prices, thanks to generous municipal subsidies. “You may think you’re paying a heating bill,” writes the author, “but actually you’re paying off a public infrastructure project.”

15. “The Coldest Time Is When the News Goes Silent,” WeChat account Nothing to Say Here
    January 8

This article mourns the censorship of reports on the Hebei heating crisis published by major commercial and state-media outlets, including the Farmers’ Daily, Red Star News, and the Economic Observer. But these articles may have served their purpose despite being deleted, the author writes, because they have drawn national attention to the issue and perhaps even moved the dial of public opinion. The author pays tribute to outlets covering the issue, and gives their reporters and editors due credit for trying.

16. “Enduring a Winter on the North China Plain Without Affordable Heating,” by Dong Sheng and Jiang Ou’tong, WeChat account 冷杉RECORD (Lěngshān RECORD, "Fir Record")
    January 8

The authors of this well-written longform investigation visited nine villages on the North China Plain, where rural residents told reporters how rising natural-gas prices and the phasing out of subsidies—from an initial 1 yuan (14 cents) per cubic meter of natural gas to just 0.2 yuan (3 cents) in some places—have left them unable to afford natural-gas heating this winter. The article describes farmers using heat for only a few hours per day, or heating only one or two rooms, or switching to "eco-friendly" coal briquettes (which locals say produce far less heat than traditional loose coal). In some houses, gas lines were installed but never activated, the pipes are now rusting on exterior walls, and residents are forced to rely on banned loose coal delivered under cover of night. A few better-off residents who invested 15,000-20,000 yuan ($2170-2895) to install air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) now face monthly electricity bills of around 1,000 yuan ($145). Most of the villagers say they support reducing air pollution and want bluer skies, but worry that they, rather than urban residents, are the ones paying the price.

17. “The Blue Sky Shouldn’t Be Tinged With Blood — Please Allow Elderly Rural Residents to Stay Warm This Winter,” WeChat account Will Tomorrow Really Be Better?
    January 9

In this impassioned essay describing the Hebei heating crisis as a “national disgrace,” the author advises policymakers to imagine how they would feel if it were their own elderly parents shivering in the countryside, and urges them to take immediate action to help rural residents heat their homes this winter. “A civilized society is not measured by how many skyscrapers it has,” writes the author, “but by whether it is willing to kindle a warm fire for the most vulnerable.”

18. “Hebei Rural Heating Crisis: The Cost of Environmental Protection Should Be Shared by Its Beneficiaries,” by Zhu Changjun, WeChat account 风声OPINION (Fēngshēng OPINION)
    January 9

In this opinion piece from Fengsheng OPINION, a current affairs-themed WeChat account produced by Phoenix.com’s op-ed department, Zhu Changjun argues that the costs of China’s "coal-to-gas" environmental policy have been unfairly borne by the rural poor. A winter’s heating bill in rural Hebei can run between 7,500-11,000 yuan ($1085-1590), notes Zhu, but the province’s monthly rural pensions are only 240 yuan ($35) and average rural monthly per-capita disposable income is less than 1,900 yuan ($275). The piece calls for immediate emergency relief measures such as temporary subsidies, gas-price controls, and aid for needy households, and the establishment of a fairer long-term cost-sharing mechanism.

19. “How Will Hebei Farmers Survive This Harsh Winter?” by 青松老师 (Qīngsōng Lǎoshī, “Professor Evergreen”), WeChat account 青松参考 (Qīngsōng cānkǎo, “Evergreen Reference”)
    January 10

This short opinion piece argues that Hebei’s rural heating crisis is so life-threatening that it urgently needs to be elevated to a higher political level, either regional or national, because the indebted province cannot solve the problem on its own. The author criticizes unbalanced regional development and a provincial government that has overprioritized infrastructure, industrial-park construction, and investment promotion, while neglecting the health and well-being of ordinary citizens. When local governments take on too much debt, the author notes, it is generally the latter type of “soft expenditures” that get cut first.

20. “Hebei’s Rural Heating Crisis Can’t Be Put Off Any Longer,” by Rao Xueping, WeChat account Farmers’ Daily
    January 10

This short and plainspoken piece was deleted from the Farmers’ Daily WeChat account on January 5, but it had an outsized influence on the debate about the heating crisis in Hebei, and was referenced in many of the censored articles that CDT archived throughout January. “Resolving the heating crisis facing Hebei’s elderly rural residents requires concrete and effective measures. Furthermore,” writes Rao Xueping, “it is a matter of utmost urgency and cannot be delayed, even for a day.” Rao goes on to make two strong arguments: firstly, the authorities should use whatever energy sources are available—solar power, clean-coal stoves, residual energy generated from industrial processes, and even traditional coal, if all else fails—in order to prevent people from freezing to death this winter. Secondly, natural-gas subsidies are a lifeline and must keep pace with rising natural-gas prices, rather than being used to entice people into installing new gas heaters and boilers and then being revoked.

21. “Hebei’s Elderly Rural Residents Are Bearing the Brunt of This Harsh Winter," by Chen Yiming 113, WeChat account Atypical Buddhist
    January 10

This article covers much of the same ground as some of the previous posts archived in January. Chen Yiming chalks up the heating crisis in Hebei to factors such as low rural incomes, high natural-gas prices, shrinking subsidies, and poorly insulated rural housing. As someone who grew up in a coal-mining town in Shanxi coal city, Chen is familiar with urban-rural disparities, and highlights the unfairness of Hebei’s rural residents being forced to pay 10-30% more for natural gas than residents of Beijing or Tianjin, despite incomes that are roughly half of what workers in those megacities earn. Below the main text is a selection of reader comments on the article: expressions of sympathy for Hebei’s elderly farmers, an accusation that the crisis is “man-made” and caused by energy price gouging, a suggestion that subsidies were “siphoned off” by various levels of government, and a sarcastic question about why the government is still “allowing” Hebei residents to access the internet and vent their frustrations.

Part Two will follow soon.