Amusement-mongers were once amused by the ability of anybody to vandalize Wikipedia articles in real time. They would fictionalize a fact and see the fake fact be displayed instantly to the whole online world. Hilarious.
Now CNN personalities at liberty, in the United States, to say more or less anything not too flagrantly slanderous are chuckling about how quickly their broadcast can be censored in China. All they have to do is say something on the air about censorship in China. Works like a charm (Mediaite, March 17, 2026).
Host Elex Michaelson then brought on Beijing-based correspondent Mike Valerio to talk more about it [censorship in China]. That’s when things went sideways.
“We’re being watched right now, so if we say anything that they deem problematic they will put color bars up and say, please stand by,” Valerio explained.
He then said a moment later, “Anddd we’re being censored right now, just so you know. Color bars are up.”
Michaelson got a kick out of it….
And the same thing happened the following hour, when Michaelson asked Valerio if CNN was back on the air.
“Ohh! I was just going to say we’re back on the air but apparently we’re not!” Valerio told him. CNN then split the screen to show the multi-colored sign that read “No Signal, Please Stand By” that viewers in China were now seeing.
“Whenever there’s discussion about Chinese censorship in Western media, sometimes you see this,” Valerio explained.
Michaelson again got a chuckle out of the whole ordeal.
“That is wild. At least they’re watching,” Michaelson quipped. “They’re watching very closely.”
Yeah. Wild.
