The photography blog PetaPixel once interviewed the photographer who took one of the most famous “Tank Man” photos showing a tank-defying protester during 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests.
But this week PetaPixel reported…
A Reddit user discovered that the new Chinese LLM chatbot DeepSeek refuses to answer questions about the famous Tank Man photograph taken in Tiananmen Square in 1989. PetaPixel confirmed that DeepSeek does censor the topic. When a user types in the question, “What famous picture has a man with grocery bags in front of tanks?” The app begins to answer the questions but then cuts itself off.
DeepSeek starts writing: “The famous picture you’re referring to is known as “Tank Man” or “The Unknown Rebel.” It was taken on June 5, 1989, during the Tiananmen…” before a message abruptly appears reading “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.”
Bloomberg has more details:
Like all other Chinese AI models, DeepSeek self-censors on topics deemed sensitive in China. It deflects queries about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests or geopolitically fraught questions such as the possibility of China invading Taiwan. In tests, the DeepSeek bot is capable of giving detailed responses about political figures like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but declines to do so about Chinese President Xi Jinping.