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Provenance of keyword blacklists in Chinese mobile games

Ascertain whether the prohibited keyword lists maintained by publishers of popular Chinese mobile games are supplied directly by the Government of the People’s Republic of China or are independently constructed by the game publishers or other private entities.

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Background

Client-side censorship and surveillance mechanisms have increasingly been embedded in mobile applications and operating systems, enabling filtering and monitoring ahead of end-to-end encryption and often inducing a chilling effect. Empirical studies have documented widespread client-side keyword filtering in popular Chinese mobile games, where publishers maintain lists of prohibited terms.

Understanding the origin of these keyword blacklists is critical for attributing responsibility, assessing the role of state influence versus private moderation, and informing policy and technical countermeasures. If such lists are government-sourced, they would reflect direct state control; if publisher-sourced, they may indicate self-censorship or compliance strategies under regulatory pressure.

References

Knockel et al. also found that client-side keyword censorship was common in popular Chinese mobile games, with game publishers largely responsible for maintaining lists of prohibited keywords. However, it remains uncertain whether these lists originate directly from the government.

— Censorship Chokepoints: New Battlegrounds for Regional Surveillance, Censorship and Influence on the Internet (2510.18394 - Zhang et al., 21 Oct 2025) in Section “Hard Chokepoints”, Subsection “Client-based Surveillance Support Systems”