CENSORSHIP by Eliana frenk

" I DON T WANT MY ENEMY TO KNOW WHAT HE WILL USE TO ATTACK ME " WHAT DO YOU THINK ? By German Lopez Good morning. We’re covering a lesser-known side of Chinese censorship — as well as emails to government employees, the pope’s health and a book to read. Marvel Rivals Marvel Chinese influence Marvel Rivals is one of the biggest video games in the world. Since its launch in December, more than 40 million people have signed up to fight one another as comic book heroes like Iron Man and Wolverine. But when players used the game’s text chat to talk with teammates and opponents, they noticed something: Certain phrases, including “free Hong Kong” and “Tiananmen Square,” were not allowed. While Marvel Rivals is based on an iconic American franchise, it was developed by a Chinese company, NetEase Games. It has become the latest example of Chinese censorship creeping into media that Americans consume. You can’t type “free Tibet,” “free Xinjiang,” “Uyghur camps,” “Taiwan is a country” or “1989” (the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre) in the chat. You can type “America is a dictatorship” but not “China is a dictatorship.” Even memes aren’t spared. “Winnie the Pooh” is banned, because people have compared China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to the cartoon bear. The restrictions are largely confined to China-related topics. You can type “free Palestine,” “free Kashmir” and “free Crimea.” Why does all of this matter? Video games are not just sources of entertainment; they are also social platforms. Every day, hundreds of millions of children and adults log on to games like Fortnite, World of Warcraft and, yes, Marvel Rivals to play together and hang out. For many young people, these games are as social as Facebook or X. China’s video game industry is growing. As it does, the country’s authoritarian leaders are setting the terms of how these social platforms work. Growing problem In Shanghai. Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images China’s market, with hundreds of millions of potential customers, has long enticed game developers. But companies have to play by China’s rules to get in, and that means accepting censorship. (Other industries, including movies and sports, have faced similar challenges.) Until recently, this censorship mostly appeared in the Chinese versions of Western-made games. China deemed the military shooter PUBG too violent, so its developers reworked it. When someone shoots and kills another player in the Chinese version, the victim doesn’t exactly die; he kneels and waves goodbye before vanishing. As China’s game developers have grown and gone international, however, they’ve also exported their style of censorship. Last year, the Chinese developer Game Science released Black Myth: Wukong. It was a hit with Western audiences, and it became the first Chinese-made game to be nominated for game of the year at the Game Awards, the industry’s equivalent to best picture at the Oscars. But before the game’s release, a company affiliated with Game Science told people streaming the game that they should avoid talking about certain topics, including “feminist propaganda” and Covid. The problem stands to get worse. As China’s economy grows, Western developers will have greater incentives to release games there. China’s game industry is taking off and will continue to export games. Chinese publishers, such as the conglomerate Tencent, have also bought Western developers, and the Chinese government could push them to censor their games, too. Player pushback In some cases, consumers have pushed back against censorship. In 2019, the American developer Blizzard suspended a player from Hong Kong and revoked his prize money after he said, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” at a competitive event. Many fans saw the punishment as Blizzard bowing to censorship so it could continue to sell games in China. The fans started a boycott and canceled subscriptions to Blizzard games. Members of Congress spoke out. Blizzard eventually reduced the player’s punishment and returned his prize money. Chinese developers are insulated from this kind of public criticism. But Western companies like Blizzard aren’t. With Marvel Rivals, Disney licensed its intellectual property for the game. Microsoft allows the game on its Xbox consoles. The Valve Corporation, based in Bellevue, Wash., hosts the game on Steam, the biggest marketplace for computer games. In that sense, the responsibility for censorship is shared by China’s leaders and the Western companies that play along. Related: I recommend reading The Times’s exploration of Metroidvanias, a video game genre that leverages mysterious, mazelike settings to evoke feelings of discovery and progression. THE LATEST NEWS Trump Administration • Elon Musk ordered federal workers to send an email detailing their accomplishments last week or lose their jobs. Some agencies, including the F.B.I. and the State Department, told employees to hold off. • At CPAC, President Trump celebrated his firing of federal workers and his attempt to purge the government of his political enemies. • Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, fired the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. • Maine is facing a federal investigation after it refused to comply with Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. Its governor told Trump, “See you in court.” German Election • Germany is holding national elections today. Polls show the Christian Democratic Union, a center-right party, with a comfortable lead. 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