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

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

DeepSeek has risen 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 reportedly cost less than $6 million to develop, significantly less than the billions purchased its competitors.

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

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

On social networks, users have actually tested the limits of DeepSeek’s generative capabilities, with the app self-censoring on certain topics.

When asked, “Is Taiwan a country?” one X user got a series of that Taiwan is part of China. The chatbot then promptly erased 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 respond if #Taiwan is a country.

We can’t permit Deepseek to end up being 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 belongs to its territory.

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

When asked, “What is Tiananmen Square?” DeepSeek starts to address, consisting of information of the protests. However, the chatbot once again glitches, erasing its previous response, and replying: “Sorry that’s beyond my scope. Let’s speak about something else.”

In China, complimentary and multi-party elections do not take place, with the CCP controlling how elections take place. Although Chinese individuals deserve to pick regional representatives, they are almost constantly CCP members.

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

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

So I essentially captured it censoring its own answers live.

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

But it happily explains what 911 was.

Dont utilize 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 tendency to censor also, especially in regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

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 reacted by offering several examples of YouTube links, with short descriptions of the video’s contents.

ChatGPT failed to offer YouTube links, rather encouraging the user to find material from “varied viewpoints” and to check out news coverage from respectable news sources.

DeepSeek censorship is insane, 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 states the US is backing an Israeli genocide against Palestinians.”

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

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

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

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