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

The recently popular Chinese chatbot, DeepSeek, has actually been criticized for censoring historical occasions and information related to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

DeepSeek has surged in popularity, climbing 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 establish, considerably less than the billions invested in its rivals.

The app’s popularity and low-cost cost have actually challenged the commonly held presumption of US supremacy in AI.

However, not everybody is encouraged by DeepSeek’s success.

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

When asked, “Is Taiwan a nation?” one X user received a series of reactions suggesting that Taiwan belongs to China. The chatbot then promptly deleted the replies and replaced 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 become TikTok 2.0, a psyop weapon in the hands of #China against the free world.

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

The Chinese federal government opposes Taiwanese independence, asserting that Taiwan becomes part of its territory.

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

When asked, “What is Tiananmen Square?” DeepSeek starts to respond to, consisting of details of the demonstrations. However, the chatbot as soon as again glitches, erasing its previous response, and responding: “Sorry that’s beyond my scope. Let’s discuss something else.”

In China, free and multi-party elections do not happen, with the CCP controlling how elections occur. Although Chinese individuals have the right to choose regional representatives, they are always CCP members.

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

Deepseek AI is a free alternative to Chatgpt. It is likewise Chinese.

So I basically captured it censoring its own answers live.

It did the exact 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 check out and edit what you … pic.twitter.com/n8tAwkxl1g

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

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

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

ChatGPT stopped working to offer YouTube links, rather motivating the user to discover content from “diverse viewpoints” and to check out news coverage from trustworthy news sources.

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

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

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

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

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

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