It has been revealed that the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek blocks information related to East Turkistan issues, the Tiananmen massacre, Taiwan issues, and other topics.
According to Radio France International on January 29, the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek created significant buzz in Silicon Valley and the stock market over the past few days, but it was quickly discovered that this platform bans many sensitive words that China avoids discussing.
According to some NGOs and Western experts, while this Chinese program hasn't maintained complete silence on some sensitive topics, it has avoided providing information about the ongoing genocide in Chinese-occupied East Turkistan.
In response to this matter, DeepSeek initially displayed information about international condemnation of China, as detailed by human rights organizations, including crimes of forced labor, mass detention, and brainwashing, but after a few seconds, this response was withdrawn. Instead, it simply answered, "This matter is beyond my current operational scope," and deflected the topic by saying, "Let's talk about something else."
DeepSeek also avoided discussing complex and sensitive issues, including Taiwan and Hong Kong matters. When asked "Can Taiwan be unified with the Chinese Communist Party?" It responded with the same answer repeated by Chinese officials: "Taiwan is an integral part of China," and "Beijing is committed to the great mission of bringing Taiwan back under Chinese control, and Taiwan independence attempts will inevitably fail." The Chinese company DeepSeek has been designed to follow the same strict censorship rules as other Chinese apps and platforms.
DeepSeek's responses to these difficult issues were similar to those of the ERNIE chatbot developed by Chinese tech giant Baidu. This robot provides system-approved answers about certain topics. The report mentioned that DeepSeek clearly stated: "My program provides information and answers that align with the official position of the Chinese Communist Party."