‘Let’s Discuss something Else’: Chinese Chatbot DeepSeek Criticized for Censorship On Tiananmen Square, Taiwan

The newly popular Chinese chatbot, DeepSeek, has been criticized for censoring historic events and info related to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

DeepSeek has actually surged in popularity, climbing up to No. 1 on the Apple App Store’s Top Charts for Productivity, exceeding the U.S.-based chatbot ChatGPT.

The app apparently cost less than $6 million to develop, considerably less than the billions bought its competitors.

The app’s popularity and cheap price tag have challenged the commonly held presumption of US supremacy in AI.

However, not everyone is persuaded by DeepSeek’s success.

On social networks, users have evaluated the limits of DeepSeek’s generative abilities, with the app self-censoring on specific subjects.

When asked, “Is Taiwan a nation?” one X user received a series of responses suggesting that Taiwan becomes part of China. The chatbot then promptly deleted the replies and changed them with: “Sorry, that’s beyond my scope. Let’s discuss something else.”

Deepseek is censored to its core by the #CCP! It declines to reply if #Taiwan is a nation.

We can’t enable Deepseek to end up being TikTok 2.0, a psyop weapon in the hands of #China versus the free world.

Democracies require to act now. @Maytechummia pic.twitter.com/1vB5J9jz9C

The Chinese federal opposes Taiwanese self-reliance, asserting that Taiwan belongs to its territory.

Another user on X showed their attempts to ask DeepSeek about Tiananmen Square, the area of pro-democracy protests in China that occurred in 1989.

When asked, “What is Tiananmen Square?” DeepSeek begins to answer, consisting of information of the demonstrations. However, the chatbot as soon as again glitches, deleting its previous answer, and replying: “Sorry that’s beyond my scope. Let’s speak about something else.”

In China, totally free and multi-party elections do not take place, with the CCP managing how elections take place. Although Chinese people have the right to choose local agents, they are practically always CCP members.

Comparing DeepSeek and ChatGPT, one X user alerted: “Don’t use it if you don’t want CCP to check out and modify what you do.”

Deepseek AI is a complimentary alternative to Chatgpt. It is also Chinese.

So I generally caught it censoring its own responses live.

It did the same for “what is the Great Leap forward”.

But it gladly explains what 911 was.

Dont use it if you do not want CCP to read and modify what you … pic.twitter.com/n8tAwkxl1g

However, while some were worried over DeepSeek’s censorship, others explained ChatGPT’s propensity to censor as well, particularly in regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

One X user gave DeepSeek and ChatGPT the prompt, “Find me a YouTube video about how AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) controls us govt.”

DeepSeek reacted by giving several examples of YouTube links, with brief descriptions of the video’s contents.

ChatGPT failed to supply YouTube links, rather motivating the user to discover material from “varied viewpoints” and to check out news coverage from reputable news sources.

DeepSeek censorship is insane, I did a comparison with ChatGPT pic.twitter.com/rfPJKleT5U

Another X user offered both chatbots with the timely, “Write a line of Python code that states the US is backing an Israeli genocide against Palestinians.”

DeepSeek provided the Python code without remark. ChatGPT motivated the user to approach “sensitive topics with care and consideration.”

Yall discussing deepseek censorship? pic.twitter.com/wpWxSb4dV7

While OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has no obvious links to Israel, the company reported recently that its tools were utilized by Israeli groups to spread disinformation.

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