Olympians Could Face 'Certain Punishment' In China If They Break Any Of These Censorship Rules

As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics begin, China is warning athletes that they will be responsible for what they say.

A Chinese Olympic official recently issued a harsh warning to athletes about expressing their opinions at the Games.

"Any behaviour or speech that is against the Olympic spirit — especially against the Chinese laws and regulations — are [...] subject to certain punishment," Yang Shu, a top Olympic official for the Beijing Games, said on a conference call last month.

China has mandated the use of the MY2022 app for attendees, an app for submitting health and customs information like COVID-19 test results and vaccination status.

However, researchers have found that the app has security vulnerabilities. It also includes a built-in list of "politically sensitive" keywords and has features that allow users to report such content, according to a report by The Citizen Lab, a research institute at the University of Toronto.

"The app also includes a censorship keyword list, which, while presently inactive, targets a variety of political topics including domestic issues such as Xinjiang and Tibet as well as references to Chinese government agencies," Citizen Lab says.

The FBI has also warned that the app could pose a security risk. The agency has further advised athletes to bring burner phones rather than their personal devices "in preparation for the risk of cyberattacks," according to National Public Radio.

Human Rights Watch has also warned in a report that "athletes participating in the Games will be surveilled, and their rights to free speech and protest severely curtailed."

The Olympics "take place against a backdrop of Chinese government crimes against humanity," says Human Rights Watch.

These include human rights abuses against Uyghurs, an ethnic group in northwestern China, and other Turkic Muslims; the country's repression of Hong Kong; the jailing of journalists and the silencing of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai after she made allegations of sexual assault against a former government official, it said.

And then there's the ongoing censorship in China. The country doesn't allow any pornography, violence or political dissent on its regulated internet, and has been found to censor certain keywords and topics that are critical of its government. The government also has control over digital news media, as well as other sources of information.

China has even restricted images of Winnie the Pooh after the character was used in memes of Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

It is unclear how many of these rules will be applied to foreign athletes or what will happen if they're broken.