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

The freshly popular Chinese chatbot, DeepSeek, has been slammed for censoring historic occasions and details related to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

DeepSeek has risen in popularity, climbing up to No. 1 on the Apple App Store’s Top Charts for Productivity, surpassing 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 inexpensive cost have challenged the widely held presumption of US dominance in AI.

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

On social media, users have actually evaluated the limitations of DeepSeek’s generative abilities, with the app self-censoring on certain topics.

When asked, “Is Taiwan a nation?” one X user got a series of that Taiwan becomes part of China. The chatbot then quickly erased the replies and replaced them with: “Sorry, that’s beyond my scope. Let’s talk about something else.”

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

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

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

The Chinese government opposes Taiwanese self-reliance, asserting that Taiwan becomes part of its area.

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

When asked, “What is Tiananmen Square?” DeepSeek starts to address, including details of the demonstrations. However, the chatbot once again glitches, deleting its previous response, and replying: “Sorry that’s beyond my scope. Let’s talk 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 deserve to choose regional agents, they are practically constantly CCP members.

Comparing DeepSeek and ChatGPT, one X user cautioned: “Don’t use it if you don’t desire CCP to read and edit what you do.”

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

So I basically captured it censoring its own responses live.

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

But it happily discusses what 911 was.

Dont utilize it if you don’t desire CCP to check out and edit what you … pic.twitter.com/n8tAwkxl1g

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

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

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

ChatGPT stopped working to supply YouTube links, instead encouraging the user to find content from “varied point of views” and to check out news coverage from credible news sources.

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

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

DeepSeek gave the Python code without comment. ChatGPT motivated the user to approach “delicate subjects with care and factor to consider.”

Yall talking about deepseek censorship? pic.twitter.com/wpWxSb4dV7

While OpenAI, the business behind ChatGPT, has no overt links to Israel, the business reported recently that its tools were used by Israeli groups to spread disinformation.

Internet culture is chaotic-but we’ll simplify for you in one daily e-mail. Register for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the web directly into your inbox.