“Chinese State Media Claims ‘Circumventing the Firewall’ Is Illegal, Uses Fear Tactics Against the Public (2026.05.08)” On May 8, “Weixin Rongmei,” the official media outlet of Weixin County in Zhaotong, released a propaganda video claiming that using tools to circumvent China’s internet firewall is illegal. The video stated that related records could be added to personal files and may affect civil service exams, political background checks, and employment opportunities, in what critics described as an attempt to intimidate the public. The video also claimed that the belief that “people will not be punished for circumventing the firewall if there is no profit involved” is a rumor, and called on the public to “report any suspicious firewall-circumvention activities to local cyberspace administration or public security authorities.”