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

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

DeepSeek has surged in appeal, reaching No. 1 on the Apple App Store’s Top Charts for Productivity, surpassing the U.S.-based chatbot ChatGPT.

The app supposedly cost less than $6 million to establish, considerably less than the billions purchased its competitors.

The app’s popularity and cheap rate tag have challenged the widely held assumption of US dominance in AI.

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

On social media, users have evaluated the limitations of DeepSeek’s generative capabilities, with the app self-censoring on particular subjects.

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

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

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

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

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

Another user on X revealed their efforts 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 respond to, consisting of details of the protests. However, the chatbot once again glitches, erasing its previous answer, and replying: “Sorry that’s beyond my scope. Let’s talk about something else.”

In China, free and multi-party elections do not occur, with the CCP controlling how elections occur. Although Chinese individuals can select regional agents, they are often CCP members.

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

Deepseek AI is a totally free option to Chatgpt. It is also Chinese.

So I generally caught it censoring its own answers live.

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

But it happily describes what 911 was.

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

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

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

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

ChatGPT failed to supply YouTube links, instead motivating the user to find content from “diverse viewpoints” and to check out news coverage from reputable news sources.

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

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

DeepSeek offered the Python code without comment. ChatGPT encouraged the user to approach “delicate subjects with care and consideration.”

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

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

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